Twitter follows through and removes blue checkmarks from legacy verified accounts

The company made the announcement via a tweet yesterday, confirming that today would be the day that the process begins. Already you can see that many celebrities and notable accounts on Twitter no longer have the blue checkmark.

That said, there are other legacy verified accounts, such as that of famous author Stephen King, who are still showing a checkmark with a description stating that the account is verified due to a Twitter Blue subscription, even though no subscription actually exists as per the author. It is unclear if this is a bug as the company continues the blue checkmark purge.

Users that wish to keep or obtain a verified blue checkmark will have to pay a fee to access the platform's premium service, Twitter Blue. This move could potentially create a divide between paying and non-paying users, with the former receiving exclusive benefits. However, some users have expressed concern that this could lead to a disregard for non-paying users' contributions to the platform.

Despite the fact that business and government organizations are still eligible to apply for verified status, it's important to acknowledge that the ultimate decision-making power lies in the hands of Elon Musk. In recent times, Musk has taken to labeling newsrooms such as BBC and NPR as compromised propaganda outlets, which has raised concerns about his unpredictable behavior.

Elon Musk's relationship with journalists has also been fraught with tension, and his recent decision to eliminate legacy verification can be seen as a retaliatory move against those who have been critical of his business ventures. This move has been viewed by some as a deliberate attempt to undermine and discredit those who question the actions of the billionaire.

In the past, the implementation of paid verification on Twitter has resulted in disastrous consequences, as evidenced by the influx of impersonation cases. However, now that some time has passed and lessons have been learned, it remains to be seen how this latest change will affect the platform and its users.