Twitter rolls out grey badges for government officials and more

Twitter is rolling out a grey badge to distinguish "government and multilateral" accounts and square membership badges for select companies. The new badges sit alongside the existing legacy blue Twitter badge and a gold checkmark for business. Twitter believes that the new badges will make it simple for users to understand the type of account as it continues to experiment with new features. The badges are only available with a Twitter Blue subscription. However, it must be clarified if government officials and spokespersons must also purchase a plan to earn or keep their badge on the platform.

Twitter shared the update in a blog post and announced the rollout of "Twitter Blue for Business." As the name suggests, the subscription is designed for businesses, though its pricing and eligibility details still need to be clarified. As a "Twitter Blue for Business" subscriber, a business can link any number of people, companies, and affiliated brands to its account. When they do, affiliate accounts will get a small badge of their parent company's profile picture next to their blue or gold checkmark.

In other words, the company profile image will be displayed in a square box, while employees will get a thumbnail version of the profile image in their account. Twitter will redirect the user to the parent company ID if a viewer clicks the box. The official Twitter account has a square profile picture, while Twitter employees have a square affiliate badge on their profiles. Interestingly, there is no badge on the profile of Elon Musk, who bought Twitter a few weeks ago. Although he is the company's head, he conducted a survey asking if he should continue.

Twitter's grey badge was announced earlier this month and helps users identify government officials. It is being rolled out right now, and prominent Indian politicians like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Piyush Goyal and Amit Shah have all been awarded the badge on their respective Twitter profiles. On the other hand, opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and P Chidambaram still have the legacy blue badge, which will soon be behind the Twitter Blue paywall.