Elon Musk says Twitter's verified service with colors to start next week

Twitter Inc is planning to roll out its verified service next Friday with different colored checks for individuals, companies and governments, after a botched initial launch led to a surge in users impersonating celebrities and brands on the platform.

Chief Executive Elon Musk on Friday allotted colors for the categories - gold for companies, grey for governments and a blue check for individuals including celebrities.

"Painful, but necessary," he said, adding that verified accounts will be manually authenticated before a check is activated.