Reality Check: Elon Musk’s Blue Check Mark Plan Backfires

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Billionaire Elon Musk’s back-and-forth on Twitter verification is already costing some companies billions in total stock value. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly’s stock dipped 4.37 percent Friday, erasing more than $15B in market cap, after a Twitter blue verified account impersonating the brand promised free insulin.

More fake tweets from seemingly-verified big names: a fake AIPAC account tweeted, “We heart Apartheid.” A fake Chiquita account tweeted, “We’ve just overthrown the government of Brazil.” A fake Tesla account tweeted, “A second Tesla has hit the World Trade Center,” and a fake Lockheed Martin account tweeted, “We will begin halting all weapon sales to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States until further investigation into their record of human rights abuses.”

Our question of the night: Are you paying attention to what’s going on with Twitter?

This episode features:
WCCB TV’s Morgan Fogarty
WCCB News Edge contributor Ashley Anderson