Written by
Sarah Delphey; VP of Trust Solutions
Published on
April 4, 2023
Updated on
August 8, 2025
Numeracle previously reported on the launch of a paid verification service for individual Twitter users, but on March 30th, 2023, Twitter announced the launch of Twitter Verified Organizations, a service that “enables organizations of all types – businesses, non-profits, and government institutions – to sign up and manage their verification and to affiliate and verify any related account.”
Twitter is once again confusing the concepts of verifying the identity of a user and determining whether a user is willing to pay a subscription fee. Twitter users want to know whether the account they are reading and reacting to is who it claims to be. Although we’re not here to question Twitter’s business model, the transition from the old system of a limited number of verified accounts for prominent people and organizations to a hodge-podge of labels that depend more on the willingness to pay than an indicator of verified identity is confusing at best, and prone to abuse at worst.
Purchasing a subscription gives the organization a “gold checkmark and square avatar if they are a business or non-profit, or a grey checkmark and circular avatar if they are a governmental or multilateral organization.” Organizations may also identify affiliated Twitter accounts to receive the same check mark and an affiliate badge.
Twitter announced that the subscription would cost “$1,000/month (plus any applicable tax) and $50/month (plus any applicable tax) for each additional affiliate,” specifically in the United States, with individual pricing listed by country.
As of April 1, 2023, Twitter plans to begin removing the verified check marks of existing organizations. However, The New York Times reported that Twitter would waive the fees for its 500 largest advertising clients and 10,000 most followed brands, companies, and organizations. It is unclear whether those organizations will be required to reapply for verification under the new program. Axios separately reported that the White House and White House staff would retain verified status.
On April 2, 2023, Twitter removed the verified check mark from the New York Times’ Twitter account. The removal happened hours after Elon Musk commented that the Times’ check mark would be removed in response to public statements that they would not pay for verification. The Times’ account remained unverified as of the morning of April 3rd.
Assuming your business has $1,000 a month to spare on Twitter verification, what does it take to become verified? According to Twitter’s post on the subject, to be an eligible verified organization under the new process, you must meet the following criteria:
There is no stated requirement to provide business entity or ownership information. There is not even a stated requirement for the email address provided to match the business website domain.
According to a New York Times article referencing an internal Twitter document viewed by the Times, “All accounts that purchase check marks will be reviewed to make sure they are not impersonating someone, according to the document.” No further details have been released on how such reviews would be conducted, but based on the released criteria and application form, we believe it would be impossible for Twitter employees to adequately identify organizations and protect against impersonation.
The legacy requirements for businesses to become verified prior to the monetization of verified status included items such as:
The requirements for government organizations went further:
Revoking existing verified accounts in favor of a lower standard for verification makes it far more likely that accounts will be improperly verified and impersonated. Standard practices for business verification involve, at an absolute minimum, a review of the organization’s legal entity registration information, something that Twitter does not state it will request from applicants.
Numeracle applied to become a Verified Organization and received a confirmation email stating that “we’ll be reviewing applications this month on a rolling basis”:
While we received this email on March 31st, presumably, “this month” means the month of April 2023. No other information has been requested of Numeracle by Twitter, but we will update this article in the event that we receive further information.
The historical value of Twitter's verified status has been the authenticity and trustworthiness it denotes for Twitter users, notwithstanding its history of impersonation since verification became a commodity. Twitter highlighted the value of authenticity in its automated response email to Numeracle’s application:
Verified Organizations elevates and distinguishes businesses, governments, and non-profits and their affiliates on Twitter. Gold and grey checkmarks, square avatars, and custom affiliation badges verify and differentiate you and your organization’s main spokespeople and support accounts. We’re creating the most trusted place on the internet for organizations to reach their followers.
Right. Twitter apparently intended the launch of Verified Organizations to reduce impersonation of accounts, but Twitter’s processes tell a different story. This latest Twitter experiment continues to miss the mark on verified identity and prioritizes profits over security.
Dear Elon. If you’d like to actually create “the most trusted place on the internet for organizations to reach their followers,” give us a call.
For more information on Numeracle’s Entity Identity Management identity verification platform, visit numeracle.com/verified-identity.
Verified Identity is Numeracle’s Know Your Customer (KYC) process that confirms the legal identity and business legitimacy of a calling entity. It’s the first step to gaining trusted status across the voice ecosystem, required before we can register, protect, or brand your phone numbers. This one-time verification ensures your calls are tied to a real, vetted organization—keeping bad actors out and setting you up for compliant, reputation-safe calling across all major carriers and analytics partners.
Call labeling, blocking, and delivery problems often stem from a lack of trust in your identity as a caller. Carriers and analytics engines flag unverified numbers more easily—especially if they can’t tie your calls to a legitimate, known entity.
Numeracle’s Verified Identity process solves this by validating your legal business identity through a secure KYC process. Once verified, your identity becomes the foundation for all reputation management and branded calling efforts. Without this step, your numbers can’t be fully protected or trusted in the ecosystem.
Completing KYC is the key to unlocking consistent call delivery, accurate labeling, and long-term brand reputation.
Once you sign up with Numeracle, we conduct a thorough KYC review of your legal business identity and calling activity. Expect to submit business information and relevant identity documentation. After our verification is complete, your organization is issued your Verified Identity and set up as a trusted caller in our platform, which unlocks access to number registration, reputation protection, and branded calling across the voice ecosystem. This is a one-time process and is required to activate any services.
Solutions without KYC may offer quick access to number registration or monitoring, but they lack the ability to verify who’s actually placing the calls. This opens the door for misuse, resulting in higher rates of spam labeling, call blocking, and reduced trust from carriers and analytics engines.
In contrast, solutions that include a KYC verification process—like Numeracle’s Verified Identity—validate the legal identity and authority of the calling party before any numbers are registered or protected. This creates a trusted foundation that carriers recognize and rely on when determining whether to allow or label a call. Without KYC, you're operating without proof of legitimacy; with KYC, you gain access to a protected, scalable, and reputation-safe calling strategy built on verified trust.
