Elon Musk changed his mind again about X’s verification checks, a feature deemed important by many of the platform’s influential accounts in reaching their audiences. The X owner announced last week that he would be giving anyone with more than 2,500 followers on the platform free access to X Premium features, which includes a blue check. The changes seem to have been implemented overnight, with multiple public figures noticing their blue checks quietly restored on April 3.
Blue checks on the platform, formerly called Twitter, used to be free for government organizations, businesses, celebrities and journalists. But one year ago, shortly after taking over the site, Musk changed its verification system by removing blue checks, or blue checks and decided that any user who wanted to be verified should have to pay $8 a month for it.
Many former official accounts, especially news organizations, refused to pay the fee. Musk later introduced a separate, free verification system for the media and business accounts and reinstated checks for some prominent public figures.
Now that the owner has changed his mind again, some users who lost their verified status last year may have been surprised to see it restored. The change may also cause some confusion among users who have had to distinguish over the last year who on X is an authenticated account and who simply paid for a blue check.
So, I didn’t ask for a blue check. Twitter just gave it to me.
I need to make this abundantly clear.
— Lakota Man (@LakotaMan1) April 4, 2024
Just FYI, I didn’t pay for the blue check.
— Dr. Yara Hawari د. يارا هواري (@yarahawari) April 3, 2024
What happened? I didn’t pay for this. I would NEVER pay for this.
When did the Blue Check mark start getting passed around again?! 😬 pic.twitter.com/AZdjnIWI3o
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) April 3, 2024
omg they gave me a blue checkmark for being “influential” on twitter. they have simply reinvented the original blue check i’m laughing so hard pic.twitter.com/29EEHXWl39
— ellie schnitt (@holy_schnitt) April 4, 2024
Musk came in very strong when he took over Twitter in late 2022. In addition to overhauling its verification system, he fired around 80 percent of the staff and re-instated previously banned users like influencer Andrew Tate and former President Donald Trump. These choices have cost him. Data from SimilarWeb and VentureSmarter showed that X’s site visitors plunged last year, and Musk has admitted the company is struggling to bring in advertising revenue.
It seems that Musk has had to give in to restore some of Twitter’s old policies. This week the company also announced a new head of safety and head of brand safety. X is building a safety division office in Texas and plans to fill it with 100 content moderators.