In yet another twist to Twitter's never-ending verification saga, Elon Musk today said that the 'Verified' program could make a comeback on Friday, Dec. 2, albeit with a new avatar. The news comes just a few days after Musk reportedly told employees at an all-hands-on-deck meeting that the company's Blue subscription service may not relaunch on Nov. 29, as planned.Musk suspended Twitter's old verification service after taking over the company in a $44 billion deal last month. Instead, he proposed that the coveted blue checkmark, which was once given only to verified accounts on the platform, would be given away to all Twitter Blue subscribers paying an $8 monthly verification fee. However, the company had to drop those plans and suspend the verification service after a slew of fake 'verified' accounts with the blue checkmark mushroomed on Twitter and wreaked havoc by spreading fake news and misinformation.Related: Is Twitter Really Shutting Down? Here's What's Going OnIn a tweet on Friday morning, Elon Musk confirmed that Twitter’s checkmark program could return on Dec. 2. However, the new system will be tweaked somewhat to ensure that fake accounts and impersonators do not get a 'Verified' badge. According to Musk, the new system will include three checkmarks of different colors — gold for companies, gray for the government, and the original blue for individuals. In a stunning reversal of his earlier stance on the blue 'Verified' badge, Musk also confirmed that "all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates."

Twitter To Reintroduce Its 'Verified' Program

Twitter logo on iPhone 11 pictured next to a partial view of a MacBook keyboard

In a subsequent tweet, Musk also said that individuals can have a secondary tiny logo to show that they belong to an organization if they are verified by that establishment. It is worth noting that just days after Musk put the blue checkmark up for sale at $8 per month, Twitter announced a new verification badge with a gray checkmark to denote genuine accounts for companies, government agencies, and some public figures. However, Elon Musk nixed the feature barely hours after its roll-out.

The new policy suggests a tacit admission that it wasn't the best idea to offer the blue badges without actually verifying identities. It is also an admission that on a platform as important as Twitter, people do need some sort of indicator to denote whether an account is indeed what it claims to be. With the new policy set to come into effect next week, it will be interesting to see if it can stem the proliferation of fake accounts and impersonators on the platform.

More: How To Download Archived Tweets Before Deleting Your Twitter Account

Source: Elon Musk/Twitter 1, 2