Twitter opens verification applications for blue check mark

Twitter is rolling out a new verification process that will let anyone apply for the platform’s blue check mark.

Users will be able to submit applications starting Thursday. To qualify, users will have to fall under of one of six categories: government; companies, brands and organizations; news organizations and journalists; entertainment; sports and gaming; or activists, organizers and “other influential individuals.”

Twitter had paused verification applications in 2017 after criticism of the process.

The platform is making guidelines for eligibility clearer this time around and explaining how it defines particularly notable accounts that deserve the check mark.

Twitter said it plans to expand the eligibility for verification later this year for academics, scientists and religious leaders.

“Today’s application rollout marks the next milestone in our plans to give more transparency, credibility and clarity to verification on Twitter,” the company wrote in a blog post.