Twitter checkmarks: EU leaders move from blue to grey

Twitter has discontinued its blue checkmarks amid clamour and concerns of increased risks of impersonation and misinformation, but users following the biggest Brussels names are still seeing a substitute.

A rather drab grey checkmark on the account of European Commission President Ursula van de Leyen (1.4 million Twitter followers) indicates it “represents a government/multilateral organisation or a government/multilateral official,” notes Twitter.

“A list of official accounts to be grey-marked has been submitted to Twitter, including the college of Commissioners and all official corporate accounts of the European Commission,” Johannes Bahrke, coordinating spokesperson for the European Commission, tells the Brussels Signal.

At the same time, EU officials can subscribe to Twitter Blue, which is the new version of the classic blue tick that was so sought-after. The Commission is not planning at the moment to pay for Twitter’s blue mark verification programme for its official accounts, says Bahrke, without saying why.

Charles Michel, head of the European Council (1.3 million followers) and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament (500,000 followers) have the same grey checkmarks, though when it comes to MEPs, it depends. Some MEPs have not signed up for Twitter Blue. Even if they have, the Twitter Blue mark just confirms the obvious: that they have subscribed. It doesn’t validate who they are.

“Accounts that receive the blue checkmark as part of a Twitter Blue subscription will not undergo review to confirm that they meet the active, notable and authentic criteria that was used in the previous process,” Twitter says on its website.

“We are continuously monitoring for possible misuse or impersonations of several high-value Commission accounts (notably Commissioners) on various social media, including Twitter,” Bahrke says. “If a potential misuse or impersonation is detected, relevant checks are made and, if deemed necessary, appropriate measures are taken” and “the account may be taken down.”

As this all plays out, for those followers coming to Twitter to stay up to speed and to gain accurate insight on EU events, it appears the grey checkmark appears the best validation.

“Users can also consult the official list of EU Twitter accounts on our website to confirm their authenticity,” Bahrke says.