Twitter to Verifty Accounts of Bigshots

Twitter announces an upcoming beta test of 'verified' accounts that will bear a “special seal”:

The experiment will begin with public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other well known individuals at risk of impersonation. We hope to verify more accounts in the future but due to the resources required, verification will begin only with a small set.

While this announcement is motivated by the publicity given to the Tony La Russa case (see Twitter Defamation, Sec. 230 and the Dendrite Principles), Twitter also says,

Reports this week that Twitter has settled a law suit and officially agreed to pay legal fees for an impersonation complaint that was taken care of by our support staff in accordance with our Terms are erroneous. Twitter has not settled, nor do we plan to settle or pay.