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It appears Twitter CEO Elon Musk is ready to carry out his purge of unsubscribing celebrities and public figures. The billionaire CEO put his plans in place midThursday, April 20, removing the coveted blue check from previously-verified, most-followed Twitter accounts, including Kim Kardashian, Christiano Ronaldo, and the pope.
Notably, Elon announced his intention to remove the verification checkmarks from the accounts of users who failed to pay the monthly subscription fee of $8 earlier this month. However, most doubted his intention to stick to this new policy, especially when it came to celebrities mostly responsible for driving traffic to the platform.
Several celebrities even kicked against the new verification system, claiming they won’t succumb to paying the mandatory fee for verified subscribers.
Elon Musk Activates Twitter Blue Check Purge Against Kim Kardashian and Others
You and I have unfinished business 🍣 pic.twitter.com/2wNYocdT3N
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) April 17, 2023
The blue checks on the accounts of public figures began disappearing on Thursday. At first, it appeared to be a slight glitch, as the accounts of most celebs like Taylor Swift and Rihanna remained unaffected, while some appeared and reappeared irregularly.
By the close of business day, the blue tick completely disappeared from most of these accounts, while those remaining, including LeBron James, who previously pledged not to cave into Elon’s demands, appear to have paid the $8 charge.
Among the notable high-profile legacy accounts to lose their Twitter blue check marks are Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and BLACKPINK. Public figures like Pope Francis, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, government agencies, and even Twitter founder Jack Dorsey were not left out.
Netizens Frown Upon New Twitter Policy
The unwelcome development stirred outrage among fans and celebs alike, who worry that Elon Musk’s Twitter policy would increase impersonation risks. Netizens stressed this threat by posting side-by-side screenshots of unverified celebrity accounts and their verified stan accounts and fan pages. This irony left many questioning Elon’s policy and how he hoped to work around these glitches. An enraged fan tweeted:
“How will people know who is official So ridiculous… asking people to pay for Twitter. No wonder they left it.”
Another noted,
“There are so many big accounts that got the blue tick removed and I’m not surprised at this point. It’s just sad that there may be more peps popping up and we wont know who’s official.”
Another Tweet read:
“The fact that we’re even discussing Blue Checkmarks is a sad moment in society.”
Meanwhile, user DC_Draino viewed the blue tick saga from a different perspective, noting,
“The Blue Check saga is a moment in history. Regular people are now treated the same as the ‘elite’ journalists. Elon is being vindictive. He recognizes citizen journalism is rising and filling the integrity void created by legacy media’s corruption.”
Amid the Twitter blue check saga, many celebs who remain verified have become subject to internet trolling, as netizens call them out for paying to use Twitter as against other public figures who have since threatened to discontinue using the site. Regardless, safety remains a concern in the Twitter space, as the new paid verification system makes it challenging to identify the official accounts of celebs even with the blue, grey, and gold checkmark differentiation system in place.