Users who aren’t Twitter Blue subscribers risk having their SMS two-factor authentication disabled if they don’t get on the Blue train within 30 days. The new policy by Twitter and CEO Elon Musk was alluded to in a tweet by Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer early Friday afternoon.
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The news is now mostly official, according to an updated blog post from . twitter site(opens in new tab)The post acknowledges that while SMS is a popular form of 2FA, it can be easily abused. So behind an $8 ($11 if you’re using an iOS device) subscription, the platform locks down your privileges to use the worst forms of authentication. The site then suggests that non-Twitter Blue subscribers “consider using an authenticator app or security key method instead.” Either that, or wait until Twitter turns it off on March 20th.
Elon Musk Wanted More Elon Musk On Twitter So Twitter Is All Elon Musk
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As Twitter points out, SMS 2FA does not require logging into the app, but is one of the most used forms of authentication on the platform. According to Twitter’s Rachel Tobac, based on the site’s own transparency data, only 2.6% of the platform’s users use her 2FA, with the majority (74%) using her SMS authentication. doing.
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As Sean Hollister of The Verge points out, one of the big reasons companies put SMS authentication behind paywalls(opens in new tab), that sending SMS messages costs money. Twitter desperately needed funding and once this billionaire took over, he planned to do away with SMS altogether.(opens in new tab)But it looks like Musk has at least found a way to monetize SMS, at least for now. Given that Twitter Blue subscription revenue is lower than expected, SMS authentication may be completely phased out for all users in the near future.
