Blue checkmarks are added to the Twitter accounts of deceased celebrities.
In a recent move, Twitter introduced a paid verification system, which was criticized by Elon Musk as being “bullshit”. The system was replaced just a few days ago, and Twitter is now reportedly handing out blue ticks for free to celebrity users and accounts with over one million followers. However, some of the newly verified users claim that they did not pay for the service. Among them are Neil Gaiman, Ron Perlman, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Twitter comedian dril.
Neil Gaiman took to Twitter on Sunday to clarify that he did not subscribe to Twitter Blue and did not provide anyone with his phone number. However, he still received the blue tick. Other celebrities expressed similar sentiments, with dril jokingly saying, “Ah they got me. Im fucked” before losing his check mark later. It is unclear how many users Twitter has reverified in this way, and there is speculation as to whether the accounts of deceased celebrities such as Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, and Anthony Bourdain were paid for or verified for free.
Elon Musk previously claimed that he was personally paying for the Twitter Blue subscriptions of a few celebrities, including LeBron James and Stephen King. However, it is unclear if any of the newly verified users paid for the service or received it for free. Unfortunately, Twitter does not have a public relations department to provide clarification.
Many users who received the checkmark for free are upset that Twitter is implying that they paid for Twitter Blue. Some have even joked about the legality of this. While the new verification system has yet to be fully explained, it is clear that Twitter’s move to charge for verification has caused confusion and frustration among its users.