Twitter has announced that it will relaunch its Verified Accounts program early next year, three years after it suspended it. 

A Verified Account on Twitter features a blue badge that is meant to symbolize the authenticity of the Twitter member or handle.

However, the relaunched verification will be done with many changes.

For you to qualify for your Twitter account to be verified, you must be ‘notable’ hence your account must fall into one of the following categories;

• Government

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• Companies, brands, and organizations

• News organizations and journalists

• Entertainment

• Sports and gaming

• Activists, organizers, and other influential individuals.

Verification Suspension

The popular social media platform suspended its verification program in 2017 due to confusion over what the program was about and who really qualifies to be verified.

Many users expressed concern that the verification meant Twitter endorsed the Verified user, an issue exacerbated when the programme was rolled out to the general public.

Twitter cracked down on verified accounts that were deemed to be in violation of Twitter Verification guidelines after it suspended the  programme in 2017.

Here are some key changes Twitter has made to the verification process:

• It has loosened the policy which outlines what it means to have a complete profile and a profile bio or a header image are no longer required.

• It updated references to Wikipedia definition of notability and added a stable Wikipedia article as one of the several requirements for being recognised as notable.

• It updated the News category to also recognise journalists

• Updated the Sports category to recognise e-Sports

• Added digital content creators to the Entertainment category

The social media giant revealed that it was exploring new categories for academics, scientists and religious leaders before adding them to the list. 

New Verification Policy

Twitter said it would start enforcing the new verification policy on January 20 with accounts that risk losing their blue badge set receive an email warning explaining reasons why they face that risk.

Twitter said its new policy defines a complete account as one that has either a verified email address or phone number, a profile image and a display name.

Accounts that violate Twitter Rules also risk losing their verification badges come January 2021.


Twitter plans to create a new type of account to identify bot accounts but this will come later next year as it also rolls out Memorial Accounts for people who have died and this can also be verified.

Twitter said the new verification policies will help the company create a better experience for members, advertisers and other marketers using the platform.