William Shatner, Monica Lewinsky and other prolific Twitter commentators — some well-known names, others little-known journalists — may soon lose the blue ticks that helped verify their identities on the social media platform
From
MATT O’BRIEN ` Technology writer
March 27, 2023 12:39 PM ET
3 min read
William Shatner, Monica Lewinsky and other prolific Twitter commentators — some well-known names, others little-known journalists — may soon lose the blue ticks that helped verify their identities on the social media platform.
You could get the tokens back by paying up to $11 a month. But some longtime users, including 92-year-old Star Trek legend Shatner, have refused to buy the premium service championed by Twitter’s billionaire owner and CEO Elon Musk.
After months of delay, Musk cheerfully promises that Friday is the deadline for celebrities, journalists and others who have been verified for free to pony themselves or lose their legacy status.
“It’s going to be gorgeous,” he tweeted Monday in response to a Twitter user noting that Friday is also an April Fool’s joke.
After buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk is trying to boost the ailing platform’s revenue by urging more people to pay for a premium subscription. But his move also echoes his claim that the blue checkmarks have become an undeserved or “corrupt” status symbol for elite figures.
Aside from celebrity verification, one of the main reasons Twitter marked profiles with a free blue tick about 14 years ago was to verify politicians, activists and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around around the globe as an additional tool to curb misinformation emanating from accounts impersonating people.
Lewinsky on Sunday tweeted a screenshot of everyone impersonating her, including at least one who appears to have paid for a blue tick. She asked, “What universe is so fair to people who can face consequences if they are impersonated? A lie travels halfway around the world before the truth even gets out the door.”
Shatner, known for his irreverent humor, also flagged Musk for complaining about the promised changes.
“I’ve been here for 15 years sharing my (clock emoji) and witty thoughts for Bupkis,” he wrote. “Now you’re telling me I have to pay for something you gave me for free?”
Musk responded that there shouldn’t be any other standard for celebrities. “It’s more about treating everyone equally,” Musk tweeted.
One of Musk’s first product moves after acquiring Twitter was to launch a service that would grant blue checks to anyone willing to pay $8 a month. But it was quickly inundated with fraudulent accounts, including those posing as Nintendo, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, and Musk’s companies Tesla and SpaceX, prompting Twitter to temporarily halt the service days after it launched.
The newly launched service costs $8 per month for web users and $11 per month for iPhone and iPad users. Subscribers should see fewer ads, be able to post longer videos and have their tweets appear more prominently.
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