Last updated: April 21, 2023, 12:48 AM IST
Elon Musk bought Twitter last October for $44 billion. (File photo)
The old blue checks were supposed to end on April 1, but Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has pushed the end date back to April 20
Twitter has reportedly put an end to the old blue check marks, a feature that was given to journalists, celebrities and government officials for free to prevent impersonation and spam on the platform.
The old blue checks were supposed to end on April 1, but Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has pushed the end date back to April 20.
The new seals are only available to paid users, businesses, government agencies and civil servants.
A verified account’s label now reads, “This account has been verified because they subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.”
Some users experienced a “flickering” blue check mark on their profiles, while others lost their blue check marks altogether.
Twitter has removed the outdated checkmarks from even the most prominent figures, including Pope Francis.
After acquiring the social media giant, Musk’s goal was to put the ad-dependent platform he bought for $44 billion last year into a pay-to-play model.
In addition to monetization, Musk says this decision is a step toward promoting transparency and fairness on social media.
It remains to be seen how this move will affect Twitter’s verification process and whether other social media platforms will follow suit.
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