Twitter Blue Tick: Pope, Bieber, Ronaldo, other global personalities lose verification badges on accounts

*Global technology giant Twitter has activated the removal of legacy verified ‘blue ticks’ from profiles of  Justin Bieber (113m followers), Cristiano Ronaldo (108.3m); and Pope Francis (18.8m), and several other politicians, celebrities, and sportspersons, who are now required to pay a monthly fee to retain the blue tick on their accounts

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

After a few weeks’ delay, the Elon Musk-led Twitter, a leading microblogging site and social media platform, has gone ahead with the planned move,  seeking to make subscribers to pay for the verification badge.

ConsumerConnect reports that several individuals and very important personalities, including Pope Francis, with his modest 18.8 million followers; Justin Bieber, with 113 million, and other celebrities, notable personalities lost Twitter’s coveted legacy blue ticks Thursday, April 20, 2023.

In regard to actual Twitter verification, the global technology giant Thursday began removing the legacy verified blue ticks from the profiles of several thousands of users, including politicians, celebrities, and sportspersons with millions of followers on the platform.

Therefore, only those users paying a monthly fee can retain the blue tick on their accounts, ETtech report said.

Biggest losers

In terms of the biggest losers, the latest move has resulted in several celebrities losing the verification badge on Twitter.

Shah Rukh Khan (43.4 million), Amitabh Bachchan (48.4 million), Virat Kohli (55.1 million) and Rahul Gandhi (23.3 million) are among those who have lost their verification badge.

Even Justin Bieber, the third most followed person on the platform with 113 million followers, and Cristiano Ronaldo, with 108.3 million followers lost their blue ticks.

Blue tick prices in India

In India, for instance, the price for Twitter Blue is Rs 900 per month for the iOS app.

For the Web, it is Rs 650 per month, whereas for Android consumers, the monthly charge is Rs 900.

Among other leading Indian government Ministries and agencies that have lost their verification mark are MIB, MeitY, PIB.

It was learnt that Twitter removed the blue tick from the official handles of India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Press Information Bureau. The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health were among the few government body handles to get a grey tick on the platform.

Jack Dorsey, ex-Twitter Chief, moves on

Meanwhile, Jack Dorsey, Twitter Co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) Bluesky social network, touted as a decentralised alternative to Twitter, has been launched on the Android platform.

It is recalled that Dorsey, who quit as Twitter’s Chief Executive 2021, has pushed for decentralised social networks that give people control over the content they see and the communities they engage with in the social media space.