Call to Action Against Twitter for Unethical Distribution of Verified Checkmarks

designsthelimit (29)in #twitter • 7 years ago

#VERIFIED CALL TO ACTION: Get Involved to put TWITTER on notice. We have filed a complaint against Twitter with the Better Business Bureau for the discriminatory distribution of the verified checkmarks and providing an unfair playing field which favors Big Business over Small Business. Do you need to request verification for your small business or have any cause to enter a Review or File a Complaint against @Twitter? Inform the Better Business Bureau at @bbb_us website, but beware, Twitter is NOT a B.B.B. Accredited Business. You may enter a Review or File a Complaint Against Twitter if you have legitimate cause to do so here: https://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/social-media-marketing/twitter-inc-in-san-francisco-ca-314093/reviews-and-complaints

We have submitted a complaint with the Better Business Bureau on 2/26/2018 against Twitter, Inc. assigned ID 12706960 in reference to #Verified Checkmarks.

"We, Richard and Tatiana of Design's the Limit, believe Twitter's business practices including granting large businesses the verified account checkmark while denying small business the opportunity to compete on a level playing field is a violation of the ethical business practices which the B.B.B. embodies. We hope that our effort will provide us with a verified checkmark, but also assist other companies and individuals who seek one with access....We will be happy to submit the information and documentation required to complete the verification process and look forward to working with the B.B.B. to determine the ethical nature of the verification process at Twitter. If the verification process is in place to support large businesses over small businesses, we believe it should be taken into consideration on Twitter's B.B.B. rating."

We sent a Direct Message to @jack on Twitter as follows:

"@jack We, Design's the Limit, have been seeking a checkmark for some time @verified and have entered arbitration with Twitter through the Better Business Bureau and we are awaiting a response (complaint #12706960) Please help us get a #VerifiedRequest for a checkmark....Our contention is that providing large businesses with a checkmark and not allowing small business a level playing field on which to compete is an unethical business practice. Before starting a petition and proceeding to raise public awareness for our concerns, we wanted to reach out to you. We encourage Twitter to become a Better Business Bureau accredited business and to accept BBB Accreditation as Verification for a small business on Twitter...."

We received the following reply to our Better Business Bureau complaint from Twitter Support:

"Hello,

Thanks for your interest in verification. You can submit a request to verify an account by filling out this form: https://help.twitter.com/forms/verify.

To learn more about verified accounts on Twitter, read our article: https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/about-twitter-verified-accounts

Thanks, Twitter Support"

Following the link which Twitter Support has provided to initiate the verification process, we clicked on help.twitter.com/forms/verify and the following is displayed: "Check Back Soon!"

We rejected Twitter's response and then received the following response to our complaint resolution response:

"Hello,

Thank you for your interest in verification. Please see the following link for a verification application: https://help.twitter.com/forms/verify/request

Thanks, Twitter"

Twitter Support has also Tweeted about the Verified account requests on 15 Nov 2017

" Verification has long been perceived as an endorsement. We gave verified accounts visual prominence on the service which deepened this perception. We should have addressed this earlier but did not prioritize the work as we should have. We're working on a new authentication and verification program. In the meantime, we are not accepting any public submissions for verification and have introduced new guidelines for the program"

Twitter also maintains the @verified page on the Twitter platform to handle requests for verification. From Twitter Verified in reference to a Verified account request @verified on 6 Oct 2016

"If you think your account should be verified – let us know! Check out our article to learn what it takes to apply."

Article: https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/about-twitter-verified-accounts

We have rejected Twitter's responses to our complaint with the Better Business Bureau and further propose that the response they have provided does not embody the spirit or practice of a business which has been assigned an A- rating. Twitter is NOT an a Better Business Bureau Accredited Business, but the Better Business Bureau assigns a rating to all businesses. Visit Twitter's Better Business Bureau profile here: https://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/social-media-marketing/twitter-inc-in-san-francisco-ca-314093

Twitter has a Total of [20] Customer Reviews with

[0] Positive Reviews
[0] Neutral Reviews
[20] Negative Reviews

Twitter has a cumulative 220 complaints closed with BBB all in last 3 years with 102 of those cases closed in last 12 months. The complaints ranged from Advertising/Sales Issues [16 ], Billing/Collection Issues [24], Delivery Issues [1], Guarantee/Warranty Issues [3], with the vast majority complaining about Problems with the Product/Service [176]. Twitter also has failed to respond to 3 complaints filed against them. Twitter, Inc. is not a B.B.B. Accredited Business and is not bound to agree to arbitration.

bbb 2.jpg

To be accredited by the BBB, a business must apply for accreditation and the BBB must determine that the business meets BBB accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. Link: https://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/social-media-marketing/twitter-inc-in-san-francisco-ca-314093/bbb-accreditation

We have rejected the response to our complaint for the second time for the same reason as the first, the link provided does not provide the opportunity to submit a verified request. Clicking on the recommended link: https://help.twitter.com/forms/verify/request will take you to a page that simply states, "Check back soon"
Twitter has been avoiding the issue of verification with a lack of transparency, lack of timeliness to their responses, and Twitter is providing a response without result. We do not believe that the process by which Twitter assigns verification are advertised honestly or that they embody integrity.

If Twitter is unwilling to accept arbitration in our case to come to a successful resolution of our request, we request that the Golden Gate Better Business Bureau report Twitter's violations of the Better Business Bureau's Code of Conduct to the Council of Better Business Bureau's General Counsel and that a review of Twitter's B.B.B. rating be evaluated. The Better Business Bureau holds at it's discretion the ability to determine when challenges to a B.B.B. rating should result in the reduction of a business's composite score as a result of monitoring media and examining national media and the information provided by consumers. We request that failure to resolve our complaint to satisfaction should be recorded and that Twitter's B.B.B. rating be placed under enhanced scrutiny.

Twitter's CEO @Jack has also been in the news media lately in reference to issues beyond the scope of our complaint, but with admissions which point to a systematic failure on the part of Twitter as a business to value, encourage, and put into practice the ethical guidelines and to provide a product or service which would merit the assignment of an A rating with the Better Business Bureau. We understand that Twitter is not an accredited business and has not volunteered to abide by the Better Business Bureau Code of Conduct in the manner in which an Accredited Business would operate, but the actions of Twitter should be examined to better determine an accurate rating to avoid the assignment of an undeserved rating which would negatively impact all of the businesses who have earned the B.B.B. rating which they are assigned through effort and by putting the spirit of the B.B.B. guidelines into practice.

Additional Researched Sources:

Better Business Bureau Partner Code of Conduct Reference Link: https://www.bbb.org/en/us/partner-code-of-conduct

Better Business Bureau Code of Business Practices: https://www.bbb.org/en/us/code-of-business-practices

Better Business Bureau Mission & Vision Reference Link: https://www.bbb.org/norfolk/get-to-know-us/vision-mission-and-values

Overview of the Better Business Bureau Rating System: https://www.bbb.org/council/overview-of-bbb-grade/

Our opinion of the lack of validity of the rating assigned to Twitter in combination with the lack of transparency about the verification process or a valid response in reference to our request to receive a verified checkmark brings additional doubt as to the ethical nature of their practices. We have seen that they are in the news and dealing with additional issues which raise doubt as to Twitter's ability to embody the company which the B.B.B. assigned rating would imply. We recommend a temporary NR rating at this time so that a review may be performed.