Twitter on Thursday began removing the blue-tick checkmarks from user profiles, including those of high-profile individuals such as Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Kim Kardashian, Virat Kohli, Shah Rukh Khan, and even Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. However, some celebrity accounts, notably of NBA star LeBron James, "Shining" author Stephen King, and "Star Trek" actor William Shatner, haven't lost their blue ticks yet, despite claiming to not have paid for them. CEO Elon Musk explained that he is apparently paying for these three accounts' blue ticks from his own pockets.
The reason to do so, you ask? Let's just say Musk is eccentric enough to pay for these three blue ticks without offering any explanation as such.
King, who has been critical of Musk on Twitter in the past, tweeted about being wrongly listed as subscribed to Twitter Blue and having a phone number on file. Musk responded with a simple "You're welcome namaste" along with a folded hands emoji.
James, who had previously said he wouldn't pay for verification, reportedly did not pay to keep his checkmark either.
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Musk later confirmed that he personally paid for the blue ticks of Shatner, James, and King.
Since Musk took over Twitter with a hostile $44-billion bid in October last year, Twitter has gone through several changes. The blue tick verified badges, which used to be free of cost and needed a proper vetting process for accounts from Twitter's end, were monetised and users were mandated to subscribe to "Twitter Blue" to retain their blue ticks.
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Twitter Blue is currently available worldwide at $7 a month if they sign up via a Web browser. If you are using Twitter on iOS or Android, you will have to pay $11 via in-app payment.
In India, Twitter Blue is priced at Rs 900 per month on iOS and Android, and Rs 650 on the Web client. Twitter offers a discounted yearly plan of Rs 6,500, which boils down to around Rs 566 per month. Interestingly, if you decide to pay up, you are awarded a blue tick without any verification process per se.
Twitter has also introduced new colours for organisational badges, including gold for businesses and grey for government officials and bodies.
The platform has also added labels to indicate when an account is state-affiliated or automated. This has led to some controversy, with US non-profit National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBX) both pausing their Twitter activity over disputes about the company's definitions of "state-affiliated" and "government-funded."