Twitter says it will start removing blue ticks from users who do not pay for them on April 1.
These ‘legacy’ check marks appear on accounts where the owner had proven their identity prior to Elon Musk‘s takeover of the platform in October.
A few months later, the new CEO launched Twitter Blue – a subscription service that gives users the same stamp of verification in exchange for a monthly payment of £11 in the UK and $11 in the US.
This was an effort to do away with what he saw as a ‘lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark’.
While it is unclear if this is an April Fools’ Day prank staged by Mr Musk, who does not shy away from a joke, the announcement was made by the official Twitter Verified account last night.
Twitter says it will start removing blue ticks from users who do not pay for them on April Fools’ Day. These ‘legacy’ check marks appear on accounts where the owner had proven their identity prior to Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform in October
While it is unclear if this is a prank staged by Mr Musk, who does not shy away from a joke , the announcement was made by the official Twitter Verified account last night
‘On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks,’ it said.
Users were quick to respond expressing their disappointment about the update, and there exasperation that there will be yet another change coming to the platform.
One user said: ‘I legit feel bad for the people still left at twitter that have to push out these updates.’
Others added ‘This is such an awful change’ and ‘Great early april fools joke’.
The announcement also offers instructions on how users can sign up for Twitter Blue, or how companies can sign up for ‘Verified Organizations‘.
This is another subscription service that will provide an organisation’s account with a gold or grey verification badge, for a cool £950 a month.
Gold ticks denote verified business accounts, while grey ticks denote accounts which represent a government institution or official.
Businesses can also pay an extra £50 a month to have an ‘affiliation badge’, that shows the Twitter profile photo of an associated brand, support handle, employee or related team.
This system of coloured ticks and badges was launched in December and, while causing widespread confusion, did not require organisations with legacy check marks to pay for a subscription service in order to keep it.
Indeed, all accounts which had a blue tick under the previous regime and are not signed up to Twitter Blue have a message that appears if the tick is clicked on.
It says the account is a ‘legacy verified account’ and ‘may or may not be notable’.
Now, it looks like these will be phased out, as having a check mark without paying for a subscription service won’t be an option from next month.
Twitter Blue currently costs £9.60 in the UK ($8 in US) a month for web access, and £11 ($11 in the US) a month to use with Apple iOS.
This is thought to be to account for the ‘hidden 30% tax’ applied to in-app purchases within those hosted by Apple.
Subscribers are offered a range of features not available to regular account holders, including the ability to edit tweets after posting.
This has long been requested by many users, although there are others who argue that it increases the potential for the spread of disinformation because a tweet could be altered after being widely shared.
Twitter said Blue subscribers will also see fewer adverts, have their tweets amplified above others, and be able to post and view longer, better quality videos.
Users were quick to respond expressing their disappointment about the update, and there exasperation that there will be yet another change coming to the platform
Upon his takeover, Mr Musk (pictured) said he wanted Twitter to become a ‘digital town square’ but not a ‘free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences’
Gold ticks (left) denote verified business accounts, while grey ticks (right) denote accounts which represent a government institution or official
Upon his takeover, Mr Musk told advertisers he wanted Twitter to become a ‘digital town square’ but not a ‘free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences’.
As part of this, he wanted to take down bot accounts and restore free speech and trust in the platform.
Before his regime, a blue tick was given out by Twitter for free to verify high-profile accounts and prove they were authentic.
In December, after much delay, Mr Musk launched Twitter Blue – a subscription service that gives users a blue tick of verification for a monthly fee.
However, users were quick to take advantage of this, as accounts impersonating famous people and corporations, including Mr Musk himself, flooded the platform.
One user fooled others into thinking former US President Donald Trump tweeted: ‘This is why Elon Musk’s plan doesn’t work.’
This system of coloured ticks and badges was launched in December and, while causing widespread confusion, did not require organisations with legacy check marks to pay for a subscription service in order to keep it
Twitter Blue was first rolled out in early November, but users were quick to take advantage of being able to buy a checkmark. Accounts impersonating famous people and corporations, including Mr Musk himself, flooded the platform
Another account impersonated former President George W Bush – who appeared to post a distasteful tweet about Iraq – and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
This forced the second richest man in the world to halt the verification process, but not before advertisers pulled their contracts.
Twitter Blue was relaunched the following month, with new systems to denote different types of verified accounts, like multi-coloured checkmarks.
Since then, other new features have been rolled out for subscribers like the ability to post tweets up to 4,000 characters long.
In January, it was reported that at least two Taliban officials had started to pay for Twitter Blue to achieve verification.
