Elon Musk has announced that X, formerly known as Twitter, will soon only allow verified users to participate in polls. This is to prevent bots from manipulating the results of polls, especially on controversial issues. Currently, anyone can vote in Twitter polls, even if they are not a verified user. This has led to concerns that bots could be used to skew the results of polls or create the illusion of public support for a particular viewpoint.
Taking to X, Brian Krassenstein stated: “You really have to make the option to only allow for blue checkmarks to participate in polls. I've noticed that the bot activity around the polls is pretty extreme. As for the ADL, I get that sometimes they over-label things. With that said, there has been a lot accomplished over the last 110 years by the ADL.”
Responding to Brian's post, Musk said: “Agreed on all. We are changing polls to allow votes only from verified users. That's critical to avoiding polls getting bot-spammed on controversial issues. The ADL has done a lot of good work in prior decades, but has been overzealous in recent years and hijacked by the woke mind virus.”
By restricting voting to verified users, Musk hopes to make it more difficult for bots to interfere with polls. Verified users are those who have been authenticated by Twitter as being real people. This means that they have provided Twitter with their real name, email address, and phone number.
It is not yet clear when this change will be implemented. Musk has said that it is "coming soon," but he has not given a specific date.
It is important to note that votes in Twitter polls are currently private. This means that no one can see who has voted or how they have voted. This will remain the case even after the change is implemented.
The decision to restrict voting in polls to verified users has been met with mixed reactions. Some people believe that it is a necessary step to prevent bots from manipulating the results of polls. Others believe that it is an infringement on free speech and that it will prevent real people from participating in polls.
Also read | Google Maps' latest redesign gives it a more Apple Maps-like look and feel
Also read | Security flaw exposes users' emails, passwords of 'smart' chastity cage maker
