Twitter Blue signups unavailable after raft of fake accounts

Twitter’s relaunched premium service — which grants blue-check “verification” labels to anyone willing to pay $8 a month — is unavailable after the social media platform was flooded by a wave of imposter accounts approved by Twitter. Before billionaire Elon Musk took control of the social media platform two weeks ago, the blue check was granted to celebrities, journalists and verified by the platform — precisely to prevent impersonation. Now, anyone can get one as long as they have a phone, a credit card and $8 a month. Eli Lilly, Nintendo, Lockheed Martin, Musk’s own Tesla and SpaceX were impersonated as well as the accounts of various professional sports figures.