Elon Musk’s disastrous back and forth rollout of Twitter Blue has led to a host of communication problems between users and trolls, with fake news and information inadvertently going viral after users quickly see blue ticks and assume what they’re reading comes from a legitimate source.
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While much of the chatter has been in good jokes, one company is feeling the very real implications of the viral spread of misinformation.
Shares of Eli Lilly and Company plunged Thursday after an account masquerading as the drug company claimed insulin would now be free in the United States.
Screenshot from Twitter
Eli Lilly was down just over 4% in a 24-hour period on Friday afternoon and 20 points in early trading on Friday morning.
The account, which used the @EliLillyandCo handle, had the same username and profile picture as the official Eli Lilly and Co account that uses the @LillyPad handle.
Both had blue ticks, except the fake account bought its symbol after subscribing to Twitter Blue, making it seem legit to fast viewers on the site.
Eli Lilly responded to his official account late Thursday, apologizing for the confusion.
We apologize to those who received a misleading message from a fake Lilly account. Our official Twitter account is @Water lily.
— Eli Lilly and Company (@LillyPad) Nov 10, 2022
The fake branding of the pharmaceutical company was one of many in the past 24 hours, with troll accounts masquerading as companies in various industries, wreaking havoc across the site.
The verified brand situation is spiraling out of control. Quick thread from twitter blue brands, and brands that might be pissed off at Elon right now. pic.twitter.com/bZ9PSqZKtf
— Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN (@JoshuaPHilll) Nov 11, 2022
The fake account is now suspended.