Twitter is making text-based two-factor authentication a paid feature

Twitter users will soon have to use an authenticator app or security key in order to use two-factor authentication if they are not Blue subscribers. The website has made text-based 2FA a exclusive feature for members who pay for their subscription service. Non-Twitter Blue members can no longer activate it if they haven’t already, but those who have already been using it will have until March 20 to disable the method and enable another type of authentication. Twitter will simply disable your 2FA if the change fails before then.

In its advertisement, Twitter said it made the decision after seeing “bad actors use and abuse 2FA based on phone numbers.” Some critics are insecure Twitter’s explanation, however, and speculates that the company’s real intention is to add SMS 2FA as one of the features it offers with its subscription service. To note, a Blue subscription costs $8-$11 per month or $84 per year and adds a checkmark next to the user’s name.

Whatever Twitter’s actual intentions, most users who have two-factor enabled on the website will now have to change their login habits. According to the company transparency report as of 2021, 74.4 percent of users who have 2FA enabled use the SMS method. Only 28.9 percent use authenticators and a small fraction (0.5 percent) have security keys. Additionally, only 2.6 percent of all Twitter users enabled two-factor authentication, though the numbers may have changed since then.

“We encourage non-Twitter Blue subscribers to consider using an authenticator app or security key method,” the company said. “These methods require you to have physical possession of the authentication method and are a great way to ensure your account is secure.”