Syed Imran Haider 
Twitter has brought changes to its verification policy as it has restored the blue tick verification to its celebrity users. The social media platform has reinstated verified status without distinguishing paid and free Twitter user accounts.
Elon Musk’s decision to restore the blue tick verified status without differentiating between free and paid-for users has received condemnation for false advertising. It is because the boilerplate disclaimer for such site’s users imprecisely defines their status as granted due to their subscription to Twitter Blue.
In April 2023, Twitter ended its old verification system. It chose a date of 20 April, given its importance in cannabis culture. The process banded every legacy user having the blue tick that verified the authenticity of their accounts on Twitter. The social network’s chief executive had unforeseen consequences following the move, which left only paid Twitter Blue users with a checkmark.
Blue Tick VerificationÂ
An overwhelming number of users continued to use Twitter following the rollout of the Blue Tick verification instead of motivating previously verified users to pay the monthly subscription fee of $8. According to the public data, less than 500 individuals among the 400,000 legacy users registered for the blue tick subscription. Many social media users called out their subscriptions for an increased monthly net revenue.
Accordingly, a blue checkmark on Twitter started making out the users who spend money for the privilege. It led to a popular movement to block the blue marks by users who wanted to get subscribers blocked on sight.
However, every user with a blue checkmark verification did not pay for it. Twitter unveiled that it reinstated the blue tick for LeBron James, Stephen King, and William Shatner free of cost. The number of Twitter receiving blue tick verification for free notably increased over the last weekend. These accounts comprised almost all celebrities with more than one million followers. Surprisingly, the co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, did not receive a new blue checkmark verification.
Twitter’s decision led to a rapid loss of social credibility for owning the blue checkmark, making several users disown their new status. Owen Jones, the Guardian columnist, is among those who got their new status without requesting or paying for it.
Twitter Receives CriticismÂ
Jokingly, the social media site also gave the paid-for blue checkmark verification to those users who cannot reveal such statements. They include the late actor Paul Walker who passed away in 2013, Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in 2018 and Anthony Bourdain, who died that same year.
It made some celebrity users like Dril and Jones wonder if it was plausibly unlawful to see their social media accounts marked as paid-for verification as they did not request or pay for it.
According to Jones, it is defamation to falsely make a Twitter account look like the user has purchased a product as a total loser. Dril said Elon Musk terminated his employees in charge of telling him about its illegality. Many digital media sites approached Twitter to comment, but it went unanswered.
