Blue Checks From Non-Paying Twitter Users Are Being Removed
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Sulaiman
- . April 21, 2023
- . Update: April 21, 2023 9:21 pm
A number of users lost their verified blue check marks, posting screenshots of their profiles without verification. This may make it harder for users to distinguish reputable sources from impersonators.
On Thursday, it was revealed that many Twitter users had lost their blue verified checkmarks and were posting screenshots of their unverified profiles.
Starting today, only users who subscribe to Twitter Blue verification service will have blue ticks on their profiles.
Twitter promised to remove the blue checks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee to keep them, but after several false starts, it started doing so on Thursday. Twitter had 300,000 verified users as a result of the original blue-check system, many of whom were journalists, athletes, and public figures.
Late morning Pacific Time, the checks, which previously meant the account was verified by Twitter, began disappearing from these users’ profiles.
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On Thursday afternoon, celebrities from all sectors of society, from Bill Gates to Pope Francis, lost their check marks, including Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Kim Kardashian.
An individual web user can keep the marks for $8 a month, while an organization can pay $1,000 a month to verify it, plus $50 each month for each affiliate or employee account, according to the AP. As was the case before Musk took over, Twitter does not verify individual accounts.
For some users with a blue check, a pop-up message said their account had been verified because they had subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number. According to Twitter, verifying a phone number simply means that the person has a phone number and has confirmed that they have access to it — it does not confirm the identity of the person.
Celebrities and journalists were not the only ones who lost their blue checks on Thursday. Many government agencies, nonprofits, and public-service accounts worldwide found themselves no longer verified, raising concerns that Twitter could lose its reputation as a platform for getting accurate, up-to-date information from authentic sources, including in emergencies.
Sum Up-
It’s a wise move on Twitter’s part to remove blue checks from users who aren’t paying, as this will help to maintain the platform’s safety and security. As users with fake or inactive accounts won’t be overshadowed, it will also increase the visibility and respect for those who pay for their accounts. All things considered, this is a crucial step in making sure that only legitimate, active accounts can receive verification on the website.
