A new paid-for Twitter verification scheme has got off to a rocky start, as U.S president Joe Biden says owner Elon Musk's foreign ties are worth looking at.
The Tesla supremo completed a $44bn deal to take over the social media site late last month, and has immediately begun making big changes.
A number of staff were laid off by the company - with some later being asked back - and Twitter has also seen the rollout of a controversial new verification scheme.
Musk has introduced a feature which allows users to pay $8 a month for a blue checkmark, which was previously only given to high profile or public service accounts.
However, its rollout featured a number of bugs with users taking the opportunity to impersonate the likes of LeBron James, Nancy Pelosi and Tony Blair - all with the supposed authentication of a blue tick.
The new blue tick also differentiates on a user's profile between those who are verified because their account is notable and those who have paid.
Memes about those who would pay to use the social network have spread in recent days, with some mocking the fact such people are now easily identifiable.
lmao Twitter built the "this mf paid for twitter" meme right into its paid Twitter Blue subscription
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) November 9, 2022
if you click a blue checkmark on a user's profile, it'll show you if they were given one as an actual notable user
or
it'll show you that this mf paid for twitter pic.twitter.com/ffOxmqqh0e
It comes as U.S president Joe Biden said Musk's ties to Saudi Arabia, who helped bankroll the takeover, are "worthy of being looked at".
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal invested a total of $1.89bn into the acquisition to become the second biggest stakeholder, with some American politicians, including Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, raising national security concerns.
Mr Biden was asked at a press conference if he felt the takeover should be looked at and replied: "Elon Musk's cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at.
"Whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate - I'm not suggesting that. I'm suggesting it's worth being looked at. That's all I'll say."
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