Twitter begins removing 'verified' checkmarks from notable figures

Bonfire of the blue ticks! Twitter begins removing ‘verified’ checkmarks from notable figures who’ve refused to pay Elon Musk’s $8-a-month subscription fee

• Twitter CEO Elon Musk has eliminated ‘blue legacy ticks’ from celebrities who refused to pay for their accounts to be verified
• On Thursday afternoon, A-listers including Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber’s accounts were no longer verified
• The rollout of the removal has been months in the making with Musk saying since November that Twitter needed to become more profitable 

The end of an era on Tuesday as Twitter finally removed its famed blue ticks, used to denote the official accounts of world leaders, celebrities and sports stars, from those who refused to pay up at least. 

They could get the marks back by paying anywhere between $8 and $11 per month. But some longtime users have balked at buying the premium service championed by chief twit Elon Musk. 

After buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has been trying to boost the struggling platform’s revenue by pushing more people to pay for a premium subscription. 

But his move also reflects his assertion that the blue verification marks have become an undeserved or ‘corrupt’ status symbol for elite personalities and news reporters. 

Following the removal, actor Ben Stiller joked: ‘No blue check, still feel like me.’ While former Daily Show host Jon Stewart tweeted: ‘So sad… am I… still me?’

A brief survey of the social media site on Thursday afternoon showed celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Bill Gates as no longer being verified. 

Neither is former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, not to mention Pope Francis, who has also seen his verification revoked. Even Donald Trump’s dormant account is no longer verified.

After buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk, pictured at the 4/20 launch of SpaceX in Texas, has been trying to boost the struggling platform’s revenue by pushing more people to pay for a premium subscription

Pope Francis’ Twitter account on the morning of April 20th

The pontiff’s account on the afternoon of April 20th

 The removal of the verified checkmarks came on the same day as Musk’s SpaceX launch which saw the rocket explode shortly after lift off.

With the un-verification of so many journalists, finding criticism of the rocket’s explosion became nearly impossible.   

One of those whose accounts remains verified at the time of writing is the account of Lakers star LeBron James. 

In March, James tweeted: ‘Welp guess my blue tick will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the five.’

Amid the purge of blue check marks, LeBron James remains verified on Twitter at the time of writing

It actually costs $8 a month for a blue tick, despite James believing that it would be $5

Along with verifying celebrities, one of Twitter’s main reasons to mark profiles with a free blue check mark starting about 14 years ago was to verify politicians, activists and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the globe, as an extra tool to curb misinformation coming from accounts that are impersonating people. 

‘I’ve been here for 15 years giving my (clock emoji) & witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free?’ William Shatner tweeted after Musk announced the fee. 

The South African billionaire responded saying that there shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities. ‘It’s more about treating everyone equally,’ he tweeted.

Businesses meanwhile have been paying for a gold tick for months since Musk’s takeover. 

April 1 was the initial date to kickstart the culling of ‘legacy’ ticks, but many remained after this date giving rise to confusion.

Ten days later, Musk then announced that the ‘final date’ for removing these ticks would be April 20.

It is believed the date is a sly reference to cannabis, with the number 420 the time of day that it is traditionally smoked.

The billionaire was famously filmed smoking the drug during a live podcast in 2018, alongside comedian Joe Rogan.

Musk tweeted: ‘Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4/20.’

Following Musk’s post, users were quick to express their disappointment about the decision.

One user said: ‘I’m not worried about losing my verified checkmark. I’m worried about everyone else losing theirs. The value of the checkmark does not lie with the holder but with the people trying to determine whether to trust the source.’

Another added: ‘The whole policy doesn’t make sense. It’s like removing trophies from people who earned them (vetted) and letting everyone buy their trophy. The trophy means nothing now.’

On the flipside, best-selling author Stephen King was thrilled by the announcement, tweeting: ‘Big whoop.’

These fees are still ‘subject to change’ as the platform aims to ‘improve’ its services and change features ‘from time to time’.

However, scrapping unpaid-for ticks has given rise to numerous impersonation accounts mimicking celebrities and other individuals.

One user fooled others into thinking former US President Donald Trump tweeted: ‘This is why Elon Musk’s plan doesn’t work.’

Another account impersonated former President George W Bush – who appeared to post a distasteful tweet about Iraq – and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

However, following his takeover Musk did anticipate a lot of ‘dumb things’ on the site.

In November, he tweeted: ‘Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.’

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