Elon Musk, the new boss of the company, has repeatedly spoken out in favor of the disappearance of the famous blue badges, distributed in the past.
It will soon be impossible to display a blue Twitter certification badge without paying about ten euros per month. This March 23, the company announced the gradual disappearance of “historical” certification badges, which were distributed by the platform before its acquisition by Elon Musk, from April 1.
On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLp
Organizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3…
— Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023
To obtain such badges, it was necessary to demonstrate that one’s account was at risk of identity theft. A procedure – free of charge – which concerned for example public figures, but also activists or journalists, and which involved the verification of an identity document.
No more identity verification
From now on, Internet users who want to obtain the blue certification badge on Twitter must pay about ten euros per month to subscribe to the Twitter Blue offer, which does not involve any identity verification. This subscription includes other features, such as the ability to edit a tweet or publish videos in high definition.
Any individual person’s Twitter account affiliated with a verified organization is automatically verified https://t.co/5j6gx6UKHm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2023
Subsequently, Elon Musk promised that Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to see their publications highlighted by the Twitter algorithm and see less advertising.
The disappearance of “historical” badges is not a surprise. On December 12, 2022, the businessman had already mentioned his desire to end them, explaining that the obtaining of these free certifications had been done in a “corrupted” way.
Twitter has also launched certification offers dedicated to businesses, with a gray verification badge. This March 24, it clarifies that any user affiliated with one of these organizations will benefit from the certification badge, without additional cost.