New Delhi: Twitter has once again stirred confusion with its blue verification badge policy as many legacy verified accounts, including those with high follower counts, claim to have had their blue ticks restored despite not subscribing to Twitter Blue, the platform’s paid subscription service.
Earlier this week, Twitter removed the blue verification check marks for users who have not paid for Twitter Blue, resulting in the loss of verification for journalists, politicians, and government officials worldwide. However, there have been reports of accounts with at least one million followers, including those of deceased celebrities like Pele and Chadwick Boseman, having their blue badges restored.
Numerous users, including prominent handles like Nobel laureate Paul Krugman and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have taken to Twitter to assert that their legacy blue check verified accounts have been reinstated, even though they have not subscribed to Twitter Blue. However, upon clicking on the blue tick, a message claims that the accounts are verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue.
In India, journalists like Nidhi Razdan and Vishnu Som, and former cricketer Aakash Chopra, have tweeted stating that they have not paid for Twitter’s Blue verification badge, yet their accounts have been reinstated. Similarly, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and comedian Ricky Gervais have also claimed that they did not pay for the blue tick that now appears on their accounts.
Twitter had previously announced that Elon Musk will personally pay for certain accounts, including those of American author Stephen King, US basketball superstar LeBron James, and Canadian actor William Shatner, to retain their blue verification marks when the platform removed free blue checkmarks a couple of days ago.
