Some Twitter users with more than one million followers have had their blue ticks re-instated, without paying to subscribe.
Beyoncé, Harry Kane, Richard Osman and Victoria Beckham are among those to have their blue tick back.
Before the platform was bought by Elon Musk, Twitter’s blue tick was a badge of authentication given for free. The tick allowed users to verify that the a profile was authentic, after the platform was swarmed with bots and accounts claiming to be famous names spreading misinformation.
However as of last week, the blue tick has become a symbol that the account has subscribed to Twitter Blue – paying around $8 a month to receive the tick.
Those who decided not to pay the fee started to lose their ticks. However the process was a messy one, with many celebrities having their blue tick reappear, despite confirming they had not paid.
More from News
- Fitness Tracker Apps Want To Replace Your Doctor – But Are There Risks?
- LinkedIn Faces A Surge In ‘AI Slop’ Content – How Does This Impact The Recruitment Process?
- How Is Social Media Being Used To Carry Out Due Diligence And Vetting?
- Insurance Fraud Rises As Young People Use Social Media To Find Brokers
- VivaTech Is Back For Its 10th Anniversary – And This Edition Is Its Biggest Yet
- Why Global Chaos Could Actually Be A Win For UK Supply Chain Startups
- Why Niche Pet Brands Are Thriving in a Competitive Market
- From Partnerships To Legal Threats: What Went Wrong Between Apple And OpenAI?
The accounts with blue ticks re-appearing however do seem to be done at Twitter’s discretion, as some highly followed accounts remain unverified, with smaller ones having the symbol reappear.
Mr Musk also claimed that he paid for the subscriptions himself on behalf of the author Stephen King, the actor William Shatner and the basketball player Lebron James who had all criticised the scheme.
Twitter has not revealed how many people have chosen to subscribe so far but the app firm Sensor Tower estimated to TechCrunch that the platform had around 386,000 subscribers in March 2023.