Twitter will require phone number verification to purchase a Twitter Blue subscription • TechCrunch

After announcing the relaunch of Twitter Blue over the weekend, Twitter updated its terms to require phone number verification for users who want to purchase the subscription. The company said that if you haven’t verified your phone number, you will be prompted to do so while buying the subscription plan.

What’s more, the company may also prevent users who have changed their handle (username), display name or profile picture within the last seven days from purchasing the Twitter Blue subscription.

“Twitter accounts that haven’t been active within the last 30 days or that have changed their profile photo, display name, or username (aka @handle) within the previous seven days may also be unable to sign up. Subscribers will also need a verified phone number,” the company’s updated terms stated.

This is in addition to the previous requirement that newly created accounts can’t sign up for Twitter Blue for 90 days. Twitter said that folks who subscribe to the Twitter Blue plan may not see the checkmark immediately as it plans to check if the account doesn’t violate its requirements for verification. Apart from the above-mentioned conditions, these requirements say that the account shouldn’t show “signs of being misleading or deceptive” and shouldn’t engage in “platform manipulation and spam.”

“All Twitter Blue features will be available immediately except the blue checkmark, which may take time to appear to ensure review of subscribed accounts meets all requirements,” Twitter said on the FAQ page for Twitter Blue.

Last month, Musk mentioned that all accounts undergoing verification will be manually verified — which was exactly the process Twitter followed with legacy verification.

All these steps are aimed at preventing impersonation and spam. When Elon Musk’s version of Twitter Blue with a verification mark first launched in November, a ton of accounts began to ape brands, celebrities and athletes. The mayhem caused by that forced Musk to pause the program until there were steps in place to prevent that from happening again.