After acquiring Twitter, Musk introduced an $8/month ‘verification” program, now reportedly suspended, in which users could get a blue check mark that doesn’t require ID verification. It’s turned into total fiasco.
Insider contacted the Twitter user who has the handle @Jesus, who requested anonymity for privacy reason. Insider said it verified the user’s possession of the account who said: “I’m Jesus. In real life, I’m not.”
Jesus said he started the Twitter account back in 2006, He told Insider that he “thought it would be funny to post tweets around the holidays like Christmas and Easter. It’s satirical. … I’m not religious myself. I just want to bring some joy and laughter to the Twitter universe.”
Jesus told Insider:
“Even though I've had it that long, I wasn't ever sure I'd be able to get it verified. I've applied for verification before and been rejected, but when Elon Musk changed the verification rules and you could subscribe to Twitter Blue and buy a verified check, I knew it was finally my time. It was immediate. I bought the Twitter Blue subscription, and when I finished confirming Apple Pay and reopened Twitter, I was verified.
“In a way, I verified the Jesus account to show how absurd the new system of verification is. It's like, obviously, I'm not Jesus. He doesn't have a Twitter account, so why am I able to be verified? It doesn't make sense.”
Jesus said he gets prayer requests from people around the world in different languages. even though he’s obviously powerless to assist them.
Jesus has used his account to make jokes — like going silent for three days during Easter and then appearing on Sunday to tell followers, “Hi, I’m back!” Once Jesus said he did get political when he tweeted: "Ban all guns. full stop."
Jesus said:
“I usually keep my personal beliefs away from the Jesus account, but I had to tweet that. There's such a problem with gun control in the U.S., and if I tweeted that from a personal account, basically no one would see it. But Jesus has more than 791,000 followers, and there, people will actually hear it.”
Jesus said he didn’t consider his account to be blasphemous because it’s pretty obvious that he’s not the Son of God. But he does get messages from people telling him he’s committing blasphemy and “he’s going to hell, and that they’re going to find out who I am and kill me.”
“But I want people to know that I'm just trying to joke around and have fun. … I'm not making big statements about anything (except how easy it now is to get verified on Twitter).