Elon Musk's Twitter Blue fiasco: Governments need to better regulate how companies use trademarks

We often trust corporate logos and symbols without necessarily understanding the legal statutes that govern them. (Shutterstock)

Until recently, Twitter’s blue checkmark logo was (for better or worse) a trusted mark of authenticity. But under the façade of democratizing the platform, Elon Musk allowed the blue checkmark to be purchased by anyone — with unsurprisingly chaotic results.

Impersonators soon made use of the blue checkmark, with negative consequences for those brands, companies and public figures who had their Twitter accounts impersonated.