Friday, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts insisted that Twitter reveal its process for verifying users who pay for a subscription.
A Washington Post reporter, with Markey's permission, set up a fake account impersonating the Senator under the username @realedmarkey.
After paying the subscription fee the account received a blue verification mark, The Hill reported.
In a letter from Markey to Twitter's new CEO, Elon Musk, the Senator heavily criticized the platform's process and launch of the new feature which allows users to pay for a blue check mark that is meant to verify their authenticity.
Twitter appeared to have paused the program shortly after the Washington Post ran the test.
Sen. Markey wrote in a letter, “Allowing an imposter to impersonate a U.S. Senator on Twitter is a serious matter that you need to address promptly.”
A @washingtonpost reporter was able to create a verified account impersonating me—I’m asking for answers from @elonmusk who is putting profits over people and his debt over stopping disinformation. Twitter must explain how this happened and how to prevent it from happening again. pic.twitter.com/R4r7p6mduP
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) November 11, 2022
Markey asked Musk to respond to his inquiry by Nov. 25 regarding how an impersonation was allowed.
CNBC and other outlets said that Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.