Elon Musk and Twitter’s once-coveted blue checkmark are making headlines with the news that Twitter plans to charge organizations $1,000 a month for “verified” status. According to a report by The New York Times who saw an internal Twitter document, Twitter will make an exception for their top 500 advertisers and the 10,000 accounts with the most followers. These 10,500 accounts will get their checkmarks for free. Everyone else has to pay up by subscribing to Twitter Blue.

Last week, we reported that Twitter planned to remove legacy blue checkmarks on April 1 unless the accounts were subscribed to the platform’s Twitter Blue subscription program. Twitter Blue is an opt-in, paid subscription that adds blue checkmarks to user accounts and gives them early access to new features. For individuals in the U.S., Twitter Blue is $8 a month or $84 a year for web use. For iOS and Android users, the fee is $11 a month or $114.99 a year.

As noted above, Verified Organizations must pay $1,000 a month for the privilege, unless they’ve been granted an exception by Twitter. In addition to the monthly fee, organizations must pay $50 a month per affiliated account. For example, if a news organization wants to be verified, they would have to pay $1,000 a month for the primary account and $50 per month for each journalist affiliated with the primary account.

So far, Musk’s plan to remove the legacy blue checkmark is not going as planned. It seems that there is not an easy way to remove the legacy blue checkmarks in bulk, so they may have to be removed on a manual basis. In addition, some news organizations like The New York Times, The Verge, CNN, the L.A. Times, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed and Politico have said they won’t pay for the checkmark. The Times, which has 55 million followers and is the 19^th most-followed Twitter account, lost their blue checkmark on Sunday, April 2.

Others including LeBron James, the White House, Ice T and Dan Rather have said they won’t pay for their checkmarks either, said The Verge. As of 6:25 a.m. Pacific yesterday, the White House still had their gray checkmark which denotes they are a verified U.S. government organization. James, who has 52.8 million followers, also has his blue checkmark.

Musk claims that the Twitter Blue subscription raises much-needed revenue for Twitter while also keeping trolls and bots at bay. However, it no longer includes a verification process. Instead, the criteria include being an active account, an account that has been open more than 30 days, and it must not be deceptive.

Insider Take

While Musk needs cash to return Twitter to at least the value he paid for it – $44 million – he has devalued the blue checkmark by awarding it in exchange for subscription fees. This move increases the potential for the spread of misinformation and the opportunity for trolls to impersonate other Twitter users. By making blue checkmarks available to anyone with a checkbook or bank account, Twitter has removed the legitimacy of the accounts that had previously been verified and has given false legitimacy to those who will subscribe to Twitter Blue just to be “verified.”

Once again, Musk’s executive decisions appear to have been made hastily without fully considering the ramifications such as: 1) the difficulty in removing legacy checkmarks, 2) the devaluation of the “verified” checkmark, and 3) the ire charging for “verified” status has drawn from major news outlets, celebrities and other influencers. We hope to see a reversal of this policy, especially if it is not imposed fairly and consistently to all accounts. Musk is not only making a mockery of verified status and the blue checkmarks, he is also using the subscription model as a weapon to blackmail Twitter users with.

There is another issue at play here. Musk said in a tweet to advertisers on October 27, 2022 that he bought Twitter to promote a “digital town square” where different beliefs could be debated in a “healthy manner.” He also said he didn’t do it to make more money, and he recognizes that failure is a a realistic possibility. Unfortunately, Musk’s decisions, tactics and personal behavior have created an atmosphere where bullying is acceptable, he can edit or manage individual accounts the way he deems fit (e.g., The New York Times), and freedom of speech is allowed — if you agree with him.