The Twitter account @DisneyJuniorUK had been posting offensive material and somehow obtained a verified status with a gold checkmark before being taken down. The account owner expressed disbelief in a tweet that went viral, questioning the legitimacy of the verification. This incident highlights ongoing confusion surrounding Twitter's recently updated verification process.

An inquiry has been made to Twitter for their response.

In the meantime, the legitimate Disney Junior account has also received a gold badge. Recently, Twitter modified its verification system, removing blue checkmarks from "legacy" verified accounts and introducing a new color scheme, with guidance from its owner, Elon Musk. While many celebrity accounts initially lost their verification badges, most of them were eventually reinstated over the weekend, with almost all users having more than one million followers receiving a new blue checkmark.

The blue checkmark, which has traditionally indicated verification, now signifies that the account is subscribed to Twitter Blue, which costs $8 (£6.40) per month, and has completed certain verification procedures, such as linking a mobile phone to the account. The account must also be at least 30 days old and have no recent modifications to its name or handle.

Gold checkmarks are reserved for businesses and organizations that pay a monthly fee of $1,000, plus additional fees for additional accounts.

Grey checkmarks are used for official government accounts, such as those belonging to national agencies or heads of state.

According to social media expert Matt Navarra, Twitter's move to remove legacy verification badges was a significant blunder, possibly the biggest misstep made by owner Elon Musk thus far. In the past six months, since Musk took control of the platform, Twitter has experienced one crisis after another, Navarra told the BBC.

He added that Musk has created an ideal environment for the propagation of phony accounts and disinformation, without providing any real way to safeguard users or other brands from the chaos he has created. Following this most recent error, it wouldn't shock him if more brands opted to distance themselves from Twitter.

This verification is gaining widespread attention as an early instance of precisely what critics of Elon Musk have cautioned about - counterfeit accounts receiving an authenticity badge, granting them unrestricted license to spread disinformation under a false guise of credibility.

In this instance, the account owner appears to be as astounded as everyone else that it occurred - the account wasn't even attempting to masquerade as an official Disney platform. This raises even more inquiries - how did this obvious parody account obtain a free gold verification badge?

Twitter has already reversed its decision to provide free blue verification badges for accounts with over one million followers, and there are growing numbers of accounts with badges that appear to have been obtained without payment.

When Elon Musk assumed control of Twitter, he stated that he wanted to level the playing field. He claimed it was unfair that Twitter alone had the authority to determine which voices were more significant than others.

However, running a social network also entails responsibility, and so far, we've seen numerous examples of his vision of social media by subscription not fully coming to fruition.