Recent developments suggest that X’s existing verification framework may not suffice for its forthcoming payments initiative. New code snippets indicate a potential collaboration with ID provider Persona to validate users’ actual identities effectively.

As highlighted in the code shared by MacRumors analyst Aaron Perris, it appears that X plans to integrate Persona’s identity confirmation processes to enhance security, facilitate fraud prevention, and streamline payment transactions.

Persona already collaborates with several online platforms for user ID verification, including major players like LinkedIn and YouTube. Their methodology employs government-issued IDs alongside facial recognition technology to verify individuals’ identities accurately and securely.

This verification process becomes increasingly critical in ensuring safe financial transactions. Interestingly, X has opted not to incorporate this verification into its standard X Premium subscription service, instead treating it as an additional feature to address its evolving needs.

The debate around authenticating social media user identities is ongoing. Many argue that verification symbols, akin to the blue checkmark, should be accessible to anyone who can provide valid documentation, as a strategy to combat bots and trolls effectively.

Indeed, this aligns with the vision of X owner Elon Musk, who proposed a system where checkmarks could be made available to anyone. His goal was to encourage widespread adoption to the point where only bot accounts would remain unverified.

For reasons that remain unclear, Musk anticipated that millions of users would eagerly pay $8 monthly (with higher initial pricing) for a blue checkmark, believing that this would ultimately make it financially unfeasible for bots to proliferate and allow them to be easily recognizable within the platform.

However, this strategy did not yield the expected results. Currently, fewer than 1% of X users opt for X Premium, and the universal availability of checkmarks has diluted their original significance and value.

Consequently, X’s verification system, much like that of Meta, now primarily represents users who are willing to pay for it, with minimal requirements for ID verification in place to prevent paying users from impersonating others or concealing their identities.

One would think that a robust mechanism for ensuring secure X Payments would involve strict identity confirmation—perhaps by linking the blue checkmark exclusively to users who have successfully undergone this verification process. This could provide a clear indicator of authenticity that stands out in user feeds.

However, this approach may complicate the Premium verification process. Therefore, X is seeking a partnership with a third-party service for official identity verification while simultaneously providing its own version of “verification” to anyone willing to pay.

This situation seems unnecessarily complex. A significant challenge to widespread ID verification has always been the resource-intensive nature of the process, as platforms often lack the manpower to authenticate every user’s identity effectively.

Interestingly, a solution appears to be emerging. LinkedIn has successfully verified the identities of 80 million members through this process, demonstrating that large-scale ID verification is indeed feasible and could provide a more accountable mechanism to combat trolls and bots in social applications.

If X were genuinely committed to eradicating bots, a stronger approach would involve requiring all users to confirm their identities through Persona, not just those interested in using the upcoming payments feature, which remains uncertain.

In theory, Meta could adopt a similar strategy. However, there are limitations to Persona’s capabilities, particularly as it does not provide ID verification services in every market, necessitating partnerships with regional entities to extend its reach.

Ultimately, the ongoing developments indicate that verifying user identities is a possible endeavor that could significantly enhance accountability across all social applications.

While some individuals may disagree, there are compelling arguments supporting the importance of allowing users to maintain anonymity and utilize various names online.

Nonetheless, when weighed against the potential risks and dangers associated with anonymity, and considering the technical capabilities now available for large-scale ID verification, I propose that the benefits of such a system are substantial.