Twitter reinstates blue ticks for some media, celebrities

TWITTER’S blue ticks were reinstated on some media, celebrity, and other high profile accounts on Saturday (Apr 22) – a move protested by many of the recipients.

Once a free sign of authenticity and fame, blue ticks must now be bought by subscribers for US$8 a month, Twitter says.

Non-paying accounts that had a blue tick lost it last Thursday, as owner Elon Musk implemented a strategy, dubbed “Twitter Blue”, to generate new revenue, announced last year.

Only a tiny fraction of blue-ticked users subscribed – less than 5 per cent of the 407,000 profiles affected, said Travis Brown, a Berlin-based software developer who tracks social-media platforms.

But on Friday and Saturday, a number of celebrities regained their blue ticks, seemingly without action on their part, including author Stephen King, NBA champion LeBron James and former US president Donald Trump.

Musk tweeted on Friday that he was “paying for a few (subscriptions) personally”.

American rapper Lil Nas X, whose profile displays the blue tick, tweeted: “on my soul i didn’t pay for twitter blue, u will feel my wrath tesla man!”

Many official media accounts regained a tick, including AFP, which has not subscribed to Twitter Blue.

The New York Times (NYT) got back its gold badge this month after Musk had bashed the news organisation as “propaganda”.

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NYT is among the major media groups that have a gold tick reserved for an “official business account” paying at least US$1,000 a month.

The reinstated ticks did not lure back US public radio NPR and Canada’s public broadcaster CBC, which recently suspended activity on their accounts and had not resumed tweeting as at Sunday.

The broadcasters were among those to protest the “state-affiliated” and “government-funded” labels Twitter attached to them, which were previously reserved for non-independent media funded by autocratic governments.

Twitter removed these labels on Friday, including those applied to China’s official news agency Xinhua and Russia’s RT.

Many who unwillingly gained blue ticks made it clear that they had not subscribed, as the badge became a symbol of support for Musk.

“No means no, boys,” tech journalist Kara Swisher tweeted on Saturday, saying that she had gained the blue tick without her consent.

“Inquiring minds need to know: Does Elon love me for me or for my 1.49 million followers?“ she added, two hours after saying she would not pay “(US)$8/month for blue check and meh features.”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which was also bestowed a blue tick, tweeted on Saturday: “We did not subscribe to Twitter Blue.”

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who last July mocked Musk, saying he had “poor impulse control”, said on Saturday: “So my blue check has reappeared. I had nothing to do with that, and am definitely not paying.”

The Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX boss responded with an image of a baby smeared with tomato sauce, crying over his plate of pasta and wearing a bib with a superimposed blue tick.

Twitter users also noticed more inconsistencies: personalities who have been dead for years supposedly holding paid verification accounts.

People were confused after seeing the Twitter profiles of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and National Basketball Association player Kobe Bryant sporting the blue ticks. Bourdain died in 2018, and Bryant in 2020.

Others were angered by the addition of blue ticks for profiles of people such as prominent journalist and columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018.

While an explanation accompanying the ticks said the “account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number”, it was not immediately clear who paid for the service with the accounts not having been active for years.

Other deceased celebrities’ accounts also sported the blue ticks, such as singer Michael Jackson, comic book artist Stan Lee and actor Chadwick Boseman, although those accounts have been actively managed by others on their behalf.

Twitter, which no longer has a communications team, did not meaningfully respond to a request for comment. The platform has also alienated advertisers now required to pay for verification or reach a minimum monthly spend on ads. AFP, BLOOMBERG