Micro-blogging site Twitter removed the legacy verified blue ticks from all accounts. As a result, many high-profile Twitter users, including celebrities, politicians, and athletes, lost their verified status on the platform.
The only individual Twitter users who have verified blue checkmarks are those paying for Twitter Blue, which costs $8/month via the web and $11/month through the in-app payment on iOS and Android.
Well-known individuals who lost their verified blue ticks from their Twitter accounts include Bollywood celebrities Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, and Alia Bhatt, politicians like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi, and cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Other big names who lost their blue ticks include Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and former US President Donald Trump.
Twitter had about 300,000 verified users under the original blue-check system — many of them journalists, athletes and public figures, reported news agency AP.
Earlier this year, Twitter had announced that it would remove the verified check-mark status of accounts that Twitter had verified as notable before Elon Musk’s takeover unless they have subscribed to Twitter Blue or the business-focused Twitter Verified Organisations plan, Variety reported.
Initially, the blue tick served as a way of protecting well-known individuals from impersonation and tackling false information.
Earlier in March, Twitter posted from their official handle, ‘On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue.’
Twitter first introduced the blue check mark system in 2009 to help users identify that celebrities, politicians, companies and brands, news organizations and other accounts “of public interest” were genuine and not impostors or parody accounts. The company didn’t previously charge for verification.
Elon Musk launched Twitter Blue with the check-mark badge as one of the premium perks within two weeks of the company’s takeover last year.
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