Twitter reinstates Blue verification mark for top accounts — even if they didn’t pay for it

After removing thousands of legacy verification checkmarks on April 20, Twitter is restoring the Blue tick marks for large accounts — even if they didn’t pay for subscriptions.

Over the weekend, multiple top accounts (with more than 1 million followers) got their verification marks back. However, many of them including writer Neil Gaiman, footballer Riyad Maharez, musician Lil Nas X, actress Janel Parrish Long and British TV presenter Richard Osman said that they didn’t pay for the blue badge.

Over the last few days, the drama of Elon Musk & co’s handling of legacy checkmarks has engulfed Twitter with multiple large and notable accounts losing the verification mark. This included accounts belonging to the Pope, Shakira, and Lady Gaga. Notably, the Pope now has a gray checkmark meant for government and multilateral organizations.

At that time, Musk said that he was “personally paying” for the subscription for a few accounts such as Lebron James, Stephen King, and William Shantner. But the company seems to be extending that gift to many accounts.

In March, The New York Times reported that Twitter was considering handing out a free verification mark to the top 10,000 brands and companies. It’s not clear if Twitter is applying the same policy to personal accounts.

A programmer named Travis Brown analyzed accounts that have over 1 million followers and said that almost 110 don’t have Twitter verification at the moment. Actor Ryan Reynolds and Brazilian social media influencer Felipe Neto are probably the most notable names without a verification mark currently.

Credit: Tech Chrunch