Social media platform Twitter has gone through several changes since Tesla‘s CEO acquired it in October 2022. From mass layoffs to significant policy changes, Musk has done it all. Now, the latest move that the company has announced under the billionaire is to start charging a fee for using SMS messages for two-factor authentication (2FA). Twitter has updated its blog post to announce that Twitter will start asking Twitter Blue users to set two-factor authentication over SMS for their respective accounts from March 20. This change will be a notable one for the users of the social media platform and will also affect non-Twitter Blue users.
Why Twitter is charging for SMS 2FA
Twitter allows three methods of 2FA — text message, authentication app and security key for users to sign into their accounts. In the blog post, the company explains that phone-number-based 2FA has been “abused” by cybercriminals for a long time. For this, Twitter will stop accounts from using the text message/SMS method of 2FA unless they are Twitter Blue subscribers. The company has also mentioned that the availability of text message 2FA for Twitter Blue may vary by country and carrier.
Twitter 2FA methods for non-Twitter Blue users
Non-Twitter Blue subscribers that are already using this method will have 30 days to disable this method and enroll in another. Twitter has confirmed, “After 20 March 2023, we will no longer permit non-Twitter Blue subscribers to use text messages as a 2FA method. At that time, accounts with text message 2FA still enabled will have it disabled.”
However, disabling text message 2FA won’t automatically disassociate the user’s phone number from their Twitter account. The company has encouraged non-Twitter Blue subscribers to consider using an authentication app or security key methods like Google Authenticator, 1Password, Authy and other platforms instead. These methods need users to have physical possession of the authentication method and are an efficient way to ensure the security of accounts.
Why Twitter is charging for SMS 2FA
Twitter allows three methods of 2FA — text message, authentication app and security key for users to sign into their accounts. In the blog post, the company explains that phone-number-based 2FA has been “abused” by cybercriminals for a long time. For this, Twitter will stop accounts from using the text message/SMS method of 2FA unless they are Twitter Blue subscribers. The company has also mentioned that the availability of text message 2FA for Twitter Blue may vary by country and carrier.
Twitter 2FA methods for non-Twitter Blue users
Non-Twitter Blue subscribers that are already using this method will have 30 days to disable this method and enroll in another. Twitter has confirmed, “After 20 March 2023, we will no longer permit non-Twitter Blue subscribers to use text messages as a 2FA method. At that time, accounts with text message 2FA still enabled will have it disabled.”
However, disabling text message 2FA won’t automatically disassociate the user’s phone number from their Twitter account. The company has encouraged non-Twitter Blue subscribers to consider using an authentication app or security key methods like Google Authenticator, 1Password, Authy and other platforms instead. These methods need users to have physical possession of the authentication method and are an efficient way to ensure the security of accounts.
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