Elon Musk Puts Twitter Legacy Blue Checks On Notice
Twitter’s account verification is due for a very controversial overhaul … again. Earlier today, CEO Elon Muskannouncedthat all legacy verified accounts that got blue check verification before hetook over as Twitter’s new CEO, will soon lose their coveted badges. Musk tweeted that Twitter will “remove all legacy blue checks” in the coming months. Over the past few days, Twitter started showing a prompt on verified profiles saying that the legacy verified account in question “may or may not be notable.” Muskclaimsthat the phrasing shown in the prompt, which irk many people with verified accounts, are his own.
The whole point of Twitter’s verification system was to identify notable personalities wielding influence with a blue tick mark. It proved to be a trusted visual identifier for getting information from a source, which could be a government agency, political figure, journalist, brand, or health institution. Twitter never charged to verify an account, but the verification process was quite rigorous. Musk lambasted it by calling it a “lords and peasants” system, pitching that anyone should be able to get a verified account after paying $8 per month towards aTwitter Blue subscription. He even suspended the identity verification part, but it soon proved to be a disaster, and Musk had to suspend the rollout.
Pay $8, but you’ll still lose your status
Musk says Twitter’s verification system was flawed, and that everyone should be able to get verified, instead of facing an opaque process that decides whether they are worthy of blue tick mark or not. Musk claims that the process was “corrupt and nonsensical.” Twitter’s support pages currently don’t offer any clarity about when the badge removal will start for legacy verified accounts. The mercurial Tesla chief, who was viciouslybooed on stage at a Dave Chapelle showover the weekend, previously said that a Twitter Blue subscription is mandatory for keeping that badge. Verified accounts will have a grace period, and if they don’t pay the Twitter Blue fee in due time, they will lose the check mark.
