There may finally be an end to Twitter’s free blue “verified” checkmarks for prominent users.
Elon Musk has been threatening to remove the “legacy” checkmarks that verified the identity of users like government officials, corporations, journalists, celebrities, and other high-profile tweeters ever since he assumed control of the company in October.
Musk may now take action: The business announced in a tweet on Thursday that it would start winding down its legacy verified programme and remove historical verified checkmarks on April 1.
But there’s a catch: Twitter claims that this rule will start to apply on April 1st. Particularly Musk has a reputation for April 1 trolling, which included a bogus tweet he sent out in 2018 claiming that his electric vehicle business Tesla (TSLA) had filed for bankruptcy.
An overview of Twitter Blue’s history
By charging for Twitter verification, Musk may express his contempt for journalists, governmental organisations, and other groups while also bringing in more money for Twitter. Yet, it has been difficult to develop a successor for the legacy verification programme.
Prior to Musk’s arrival in 2021, Twitter Blue debuted as a paid subscription service that offered “power features” like the ability to undo a tweet and save bookmarks to folders. In November 2022, Musk updated the programme and added a blue checkmark to the features for paying users.
The programme was immediately inundated with users who had purchased for fake identities that they used to pose as people like former president Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, LeBron James, and Nintendo.
The fake Nintendo account tweeted a picture of Mario giving the viewer the middle finger just before it was suspended. The player was erroneously alleged to have requested a trade by the LeBron James account. This is why Elon Musk’s proposal doesn’t work, tweeted the fake Trump account.
