Twitter Verification: Daily Crunch - Tech News

Twitter is preparing to reinstate verification badges, YouTube has suspended OANN, and Discord is in discussions to secure a substantial funding round. This is your Daily Crunch for November 24, 2020.

Key development: Twitter plans to revive verification

Twitter temporarily halted its blue checkmark verification process in 2017 following debate regarding the criteria for verification – particularly the decision to verify an organizer connected to the notorious and tragic white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville.

Following this pause, Twitter selectively granted verification to medical professionals sharing information about COVID-19 and to individuals campaigning for elected office, but did not reintroduce the program on a broad scale.

Twitter now announces it will relaunch verification in 2021, and is currently gathering input on the updated policy. The initial phase of verification will concentrate on six categories of accounts: government entities, businesses/brands/non-profit organizations, news outlets, entertainment, sports, and activists/organizers/other prominent figures.

Major tech companies

YouTube has suspended and removed advertising revenue from One America News Network due to a video concerning COVID-19 — YouTube stated, “Following a thorough assessment, we have taken down a video from OANN and applied a strike to the channel for breaching our guidelines on COVID-19 misinformation.”

Instagram businesses and content creators might soon have access to a Messenger-style ‘FAQ’ feature — This upcoming feature will enable users to initiate conversations with businesses or creators’ accounts by selecting a frequently asked question within a chat interface.

Fortnite introduces a $12 per month subscription package — The $11.99 monthly Fortnite Crew membership provides players with a complete season battle pass, 1,000 V-Bucks each month, and a Crew Pack containing a unique outfit set.

Startups, investment, and venture funding

Discord is nearing completion of a funding round that would assess the company’s value at as much as $7 billion — This new investment arrives only months after a $100 million investment that valued the company at $3.5 billion.

Dija, a new delivery service founded by former Deliveroo staff, is on the verge of securing a $20 million investment led by Blossom — Limited information is available about Dija, other than it will provide convenient delivery of fresh groceries through a “dark” store model.

Marie Ekeland establishes 2050, a new investment fund focused on ambitious, long-term objectives — Ekeland previously worked as an investor at French VC firm Elaia, where she invested in adtech company Criteo.

Insights and analysis from Extra Crunch

As edtech experiences significant financial growth, some insights for early-stage companies — The increased valuations of both Duolingo and Udemy demonstrate the substantial investor confidence in edtech’s expansion within the remote learning sector.

Analyzing the growth trajectory of C3.ai — As its initial public offering approaches, how rapidly did C3.ai expand during its October quarter?

Decrypted: The privacy dispute between Apple and Facebook, Twitter’s appointment of Mudge, and newly discovered vulnerabilities — Zack Whittaker’s latest compilation of cybersecurity news.

(Extra Crunch is our subscription service, designed to make information about startups more accessible. And until November 30, you can receive a 25% discount on an annual membership.)

Other news

The Biden-Harris team has finally secured their official transition .gov domain — This follows the General Services Administration’s authorization for the Biden-Harris team to transition from a political campaign to a governmental administration.

India prohibits 43 additional Chinese applications due to cybersecurity concerns — India’s ban on Chinese apps continues.

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