Twitter has reinstated the blue verification badges for some media and celebrities that had been eliminated by the platform after the distinctive seal was removed from users who did not pay for them. This move has been opposed by many stakeholders and has generated uproar. Elon Musk, who bought Twitter in late October for $44 billion, had promised to get rid of the blue mark that a user got after verifying their identity and meeting certain conditions. The company began massively removing the badge on Thursday, leaving thousands of accounts without it.
To get the blue badge, a monthly fee of $8 is required as of Thursday, giving users access to other “Twitter Blue” benefits such as increased visibility and fewer ads. However, less than 5% of the 407,000 verified profiles subscribed to the new plan, according to Travis Brown, a software developer who monitors social networking platforms from Berlin.
On Friday and Saturday, several celebrities reclaimed their hashtags with no apparent counterpart, including writer Stephen King, NBA champion LeBron James, and former US President Donald Trump. Musk tweeted Friday that he was “paying off a few subscriptions personally.” The badge was also reinstated for some media outlets, such as AFP and the New York Times, whose branding is gold and reserved for organizations that pay at least $1,000 a month.
Many of the users who inadvertently got the blue badge made it clear that they had not subscribed, as the seal became a symbol of support for Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and SpaceX.