Twitter Verified: Twitter Verified unfollows 4,20,000 legacy verified accounts – Times of India

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made a lot of changes to Twitter since taking over the microblogging site in October 2022. The billionaire also introduced paid blue checkmarks for the users of the social media platform to generate more revenue for the company. However, the push for Twitter’s subscription scheme has not gone as planned. Major institutions in the US including the White House have refused to pay for the verified tag on the social media site.
Last month, the company announced that it will start removing blue checkmarks from all legacy verified accounts from April 1. Eventually, the blue verified tag will be available only for the accounts that sign up for its $8 per month Twitter Blue service.

Twitter hasn’t yet removed all the legacy verified blue ticks. but has unfollowed several accounts. Earlier, the Twitter Verified account reportedly followed over 420,000 legacy verified accounts. According to a report by CNBC, the Twitter Verified handle now follows no individuals or organisations.
Currently, the Twitter Blue handle follows only Twitter on the social media platform. Previously, notable Twitter accounts used to get their blue checkmark after they were followed by the Twitter Verified handle.
Elon Musk is yet to offer a clarification for this move, but it is expected to be another move towards legacy verification removal. The company has also recently shut down its free API services which has affected several apps and websites.
Organisations that have refused to pay for Twitter verification
Several news organisations including The New York Times have already refused to pay for Twitter’s verification plan. The social media site has also removed the blue tick from NYT’s official Twitter handle.
Other news outlets like The Washington Post and CNN have also announced that they won’t be paying for Twitter verification. One of the representatives of the Post has also mentioned that “it is now evident that verified check marks no longer represent authority and expertise.”

Twitter verified blue ticks: A timeline
To identify the genuinity of individuals, organisations and other accounts “of public interest” on the social media platform, Twitter introduced verified accounts in 2009. Shortly after acquiring the microblogging platform, Elon Musk rolled out the paid new verification system to boost the company’s revenue.
The initial roll out was a failure and was paused by the company as fake and parody accounts started receiving blue ticks. Twitter brought back the service in December and introduced gold and grey check marks for businesses and government accounts.
Twitter Blue subscriptions also include other features like the ability to edit tweets and share tweets up to 4,000 characters. In India, the subscription costs Rs 900 per month for iPhone and Android users while Rs 650 per month for desktop users.