From Beyonce? to the Pope, Twitter's Blue Checkmarks Are Disappearing Left and Right
Whether you’re Beyonce or The Pope, no one is spared from Elon Musk’s new Twitter regime. The owner and CEO of Twitter is committing to his promise of charging users for blue tick marks—despite global backlash. Thousands of celebrities, world leaders, and news outlets have lost their blue checkmarks thanks to Musk’s new policy that monetizes verification.
That is, except if you’re LeBron James or Stephen King. It seems favoritism is all the rage at Twitter as Musk has personally paid for certain celebrities to keep their blue checkmarks purely because of preference.
But if you’re not on Elon Musk’s “good list,” then tough luck. Even Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump have lost their checkmarks. The coveted blue checkmark costs $8 per month, and there’s an additional fee for special colors, like gold for businesses and gray for government organizations.
Also read:
Even Elon Musk Is Calling For a Pause in the AI Arms Race
Everything We Know About Alex Gibney's Elon Musk Documentary, Musk
Musk previously said that his paid badge system would “democratize journalism and empower the voice of the people,” but many have criticized that the opposite has happened. Musk’s badge system coincides with another policy that adds disclaimers to accounts that Musk or Twitter deems “state-affiliated.”
However, some of these accounts, like NPR have fought back against the labels that they deemed biased and based on Musk’s own personal definition of “government-funded.” As such, Western outlets NPR, PBS, and CBC have all out stopped posting on Twitter and moved to other platforms.
They aren’t the only ones. Advertisers have abandoned Twitter since Musk took over with 61 percent of top advertisers pre-Musk cutting their advertising by 80 percent or more this year through March.
With all the drama surrounding Musk’s Twitter era, it begs the question of whether the $44 billion investment was worth it. And whether it was worth it for Twitter to let Musk take over.
As The Washington Post said, “Twitter is a shadow of its former self.”
