Elon Musk made headlines last year with the acquisition of Twitter for a staggering $44 billion, subsequently introducing the subscription service Twitter Blue. Priced at $8 per month, the service offered a range of features, including the coveted blue tick verification symbol. However, a few months after its launch, Twitter initiated the removal of the signature blue checkmarks from verified users who had not subscribed to Twitter Blue. Accounts with blue checkmarks, predating Musk’s ownership, were labeled as “legacy accounts” and faced the choice of subscribing to Twitter Blue or risking the loss of their verification status. In a recent development, Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s Twitter account witnessed the disappearance of its blue tick due to non-payment.
This incident is not an isolated case, as various politicians and official entities, including Pakistan’s former PM Imran Khan, FM Bilawal Bhutto, and Maryam Nawaz, experienced the loss of their blue checkmarks a few months ago. The retention of the verification symbol was contingent on paying the $8 subscription fee, a move seemingly aimed at generating revenue for the platform.
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The significance of the blue checkmark lies in its role as an indicator of trustworthiness. It signals that a user’s identity has undergone verification by the platform, aiding in the identification of impersonator accounts and combating misinformation. Traditionally reserved for politicians, celebrities, journalists, and media organizations, the removal of checkmarks for non-subscribers has raised concerns about potential chaos, particularly for high-profile individuals.
The situation becomes more critical given instances of impersonator accounts, such as those falsely claiming to be Jeff Bezos and spreading misinformation like the alleged shutdown of Amazon. This underscores the importance of verifying the authenticity of accounts before trusting the information they disseminate, as the absence of a blue checkmark can lead to widespread misinformation and confusion among the audience.
