Twitter begins charging for SMS two-factor authentication
You will now have to pay to use SMS for two-factor authentication (2FA) on Twitter according to a new announcement made by the company today.
SMS two-factor authentication is the most commonly used form of authentication, in order to keep your account safe from hacking. The new announcement by Twitter notes that the feature will now only be available to those willing to pay for Twitter Blue, that’s $8 per month.
Probably not the best move but Twitter says in a blog post that it has seen phone-number based 2FA be used – and abused – by bad actors. ”So starting today, we will no longer allow accounts to enroll in the text message/SMS method of 2FA unless they are Twitter Blue subscribers,” it says.
If you are a non-Twitter Blue subscriber and already enrolled 2FA via SMS, you will have 30 days to disable this method and enroll in another. You have until 20 March 2023 to do so after which, Twitter says you will no longer use text messages as a 2FA method.
Yeap, there you go. So no more secondary protection on your account but you’ll have the option to use an authentication app or security key instead.
— Kanali (@NicKanali) February 18, 2023
”We encourage non-Twitter Blue subscribers to consider using an authentication app or security key method instead” the company says.
This latest move by Twitter could be one way of just pushing more people to pay for Twitter Blue, as the company looks to bring in more revenue. Twitter Blue is an opt-in, paid subscription that adds a blue checkmark to your account and offers early access to select features, like Edit Tweet with pricing starting at $8/month or $84/year.
In addition to the blue checkmark, Twitter Blue features also offer subscribers a way to enhance and customize their Twitter experience
As of now, around 300,000 subscribers have opted into their service according to information we have gathered online.
Tell us, would you pay to use SMS messages for two-factor authentication on Twitter?
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