Twitter Strips Legacy Blue Checks From Public Figures In Bid To Force Payments
On Thursday, 20th April, Twitter started removing blue checkmarks (badges) in masses from what are considered legacy accounts. This is consistent with an Elon Musk announcement where he claimed there are “far too many corrupt legacy Blue “verification” checkmarks exist, so no choice but to remove legacy Blue in coming months.”
The change is apparent on the social platform for many celebrities, journalists, and high-profile individuals in all industries alike. Some notably affected accounts include Beyonce, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ice T, Pope Francis, former president Donald Trump, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga among many others.
The move comes as Twitter owner and CEO attempts to overhaul the social media company to turn a profit. If any user (including you), wishes to retain or gain the check mark beside their username, they must pay $84 (£67) a year, the subscription fee for Twitter Blue.
Aftermath and Consequences Of Removing These Legacy Checkmarks
As Twitter did away with the checkmarks, many previously verified accounts took to the platform to joke about the events or mourn the loss. Rapper Ice T was among the first to comment saying in a post on Twitter, “The fact that we’re even discussing Blue check marks is a Sad moment in society.”
Kenyan CNN reporter Larry Madowo said, “My “legacy verified” checkmark is gone. Still not paying. This was fun.”
Other than the reactions, the removal of these checkmarks is already having consequences with imposters already having a field day. As the BBC reports, an account posing as Hilary Clinton, cloned down to the same profile picture as the actual former senator’s account “announced” that “she” would run for the presidency again. This happened barely a few hours after the verification was taken down.
According to experts, tweets like these will lead to misinformation. With the loss of the badges, the only way to differentiate an impersonator from a celebrity is through the follower count. However, this is problematic since on many occasions one reads a tweet without reviewing the follower count. This is because a person’s follower count is not shown on the timeline but on their profile only.
The removal of authentication has been presented as a move by Mr. Musk to democratize the site’s content. Only verified accounts would show up on the site’s prominent For You page, he claims.
Brief History of The Blue Checkmark
The verification feature was first introduced on the platform back in 2009. This was after Anthony La Russa, a former professional baseball player sued the social media giant. The lawsuit came after an unknown Twitter user created an account at twitter.com/TonyLaRussa and pretended to post updates as La Russa.
The blue checkmark quickly became a symbol of status on the platform and a sign of authority. However, this would all change in the Elon Musk era as he began a massive cultural shift on the platform.
Shortly after taking control of the platform, Elon Musk rolled out Twitter Blue, a subscription service that let anyone get a blue checkmark provided they paid $7.99. The only requirement was that the user had to have an Apple ID and a phone number.
However, Chaos ensued on the platform as a result and the new system quickly went awry. Users began impersonating public figures, politicians, and even brands at a large scale, this time having a blue checkmark beside their name which made them more “credible.”
Trust in the site’s posts decreased as a result of the confusion, which made it challenging to identify quickly which accounts were real and which were impersonations. Twitter responded by disabling new sign-ups for the service.
The feature was relaunched on 12th December 2022. As TechCrunch reported, it was announced that web sign-ups will cost $8 per month and iOS sign-ups will cost $11 per month for “access to subscriber-only features, including the blue checkmark.”
With the relaunch of the feature, it was announced that there will be new security features such as color-coded checkmarks and stricter verification rules. Gold badges are used for companies and businesses, grey badges for government accounts, and blue for individuals.
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