“I Didn’t Request or Pay For It”, Celebrities Say As They Get Their Twitter Badges Back

Elon Musk Makes U-Turn On Decision To Remove Legacy Account Verification

On 20th April 2023, Twitter came good with its CEO’s promise to get rid of so-called legacy accounts. However, it took only a few days, and as early as Saturday 22nd April, the company U-turned and began “returning” the blue badge to some of these “legacy” accounts. A legacy account in this sense refers to an account that had Twitter verification due to their notability in the public eye.

The move to rid of these legacy accounts is meant to “force” them to subscribe to Twitter Blue, a feature added by Musk as he attempts to monetize most of the platform’s features. On the said day, (Thursday 20th April) the blue ticks began to disappear from accounts on the platform one after the other.

Only accounts that were subscribed to Twitter Blue were left with a blue checkmark next to their names. This applied not only to individuals but the accounts of originations as well. Accounts belonging to the likes of Beyonce, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ice T, and even the BBC were now distinguishable from a bot by the follower count.

The move was met with ridicule, anger, and genuine concerns over the consequences this would have on the flow of information on the platform. Shortly after, the badges were removed, accounts mimicking public figures began to appear spreading wrong information. This was while some of the previously verified accounts came out and declared it was fun being verified but they would be subscribing to Twitter Blue.

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The move also led to the start of a campaign by some users that has come to be known as “Block the Blue”. As the name suggests, people began to block those who had paid for the feature, labeling them as “sellouts.” Later it was revealed that not all who had the badge had paid for it. Musk came out and said he was personally paying for the verification of the accounts belonging to Stephen King, LeBron James, and William Shatner.

Over the weekend, the blue badges began re-appearing on the accounts of some of these previously verified accounts. Were people really paying for the feature finally? Well, as it turns out, NO! They were not.

Many of the users came out as soon as their badge was returned and proudly announced that they had not made any payment for the service. Once Footballer Riyad Mahrez’s badge reappeared he tweeted,”( and no I didn’t pay for the blue tick 😆😆).”

It was later revealed that the favor to wield the Twitter Blue badge was at Elon Musk’s direction, but only to users with over 1 million followers. According to broadcaster James O’Brien, some accounts with less than 1 million followers, were also given back their badges. He added that this was done after a personal anointment by Mr. Musk.

The return of the badges has been met with controversy as some question the legality of it and why some are exempted from paying while others have to pay. “Isn’t it some form of defamation to falsely make it look like people have purchased a product associated with being a total loser,” asked Owen Jones of MIT.