Twitter to Mandate Email or Phone Number Verification for New Accounts
Jun 27, 2018, 7:37 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Twitter is rolling out a number of changes to its platform in order to fight spam and malicious content. One step it is taking will require new users to confirm either an email address or phone number when they sign up to Twitter. Twitter says this will help prevent bad actors from taking advantage of its openness. The change will be rolled out later this year. Twitter also has other changes in the works. The social network is reducing the visibility of suspicious accounts in Tweet and account metrics, meaning Tweets that come from suspect accounts won't reach user timelines and follower counts may go up and down more frequently as Twitter kicks spam accounts off the platform. The company is auditing accounts for signs of automation during the signup process. Twitter says this alone is helping it ward off 50,000 new spam accounts per day. Last, Twitter is doubling down on its search for malicious content. It's looking for accounts that pump out exceptionally high volumes of Tweets as well as keywords and hashtags that are abusive. Twitter is asking people to be vigilant with their own accounts, to use two-factor authentication, to not re-use passwords from other sites, and to review third-party app access to their account. Twitter hopes all these changes will make the platform less abrasive.
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