Free Blue Checks Are Back For Some Accounts On Elon Musk’s X. Not Everyone Is Happy About It

NEW YORK — Elon Musk’s X, once known as Twitter, has begun restoring complimentary blue checks to some of its users, the latest unexpected change to cause widespread confusion on the network.

For years, Twitter’s blue checks resembled the verification badges prevalent on social media, primarily reserved for celebrities, politicians, and other powerful accounts. This changed a few months after Musk purchased the platform for $44 billion in October 2022.

Free Blue Checks Are Back For Some Accounts On Elon Musk’s X. Not Everyone Is Happy About It

Last year, X began issuing verification checks solely to individuals who paid the initial $8 per month fee. It removed verification badges from many celebrities and other prominent accounts, which resulted in confusion, complaints, and a significant number of bogus accounts impersonating others, including blue checks.

However, many users reported seeing the blue checks return to their accounts late Wednesday night and early Thursday or appear for the first time, despite the fact that they had not paid for “premium” services on X.

Last week, Musk announced that all twitter accounts with more than 2,500 verified subscriber followers would receive Premium features, including a checkmark, for free in the future, while accounts with more than 5,000 would receive Premium+ for free.

The specific explanation for this new policy needed to be clarified. X waited to respond to The Associated Press’s request for comment Thursday.

Reactions were mixed. While a few customers were thrilled with the authentication, others were dissatisfied.

“What happened?” I did not pay for this. “I would NEVER pay for this,” actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who looked to be among the renowned figures to get a blue check, wrote in a post-Wednesday evening.

Free Blue Checks Are Back For Some Accounts On Elon Musk’s X. Not Everyone Is Happy About It

As X’s blue check has morphed into what some claim is a sign of support for the platform’s new ownership and subscription model, a few other accounts have published instructions on removing their newly placed blue checks via settings modifications.

In discussions about the blue checks this week, some users shared a notification they received on the site stating they were receiving a free Premium subscription “as an influential member of the community on X.”

As of Thursday, some AP staff had acquired verification status for which they had yet to pay or request.

Beyond blue checks, twitter has experienced user and advertiser backlash over continued worries about content moderation and the propagation of disinformation and hate speech on the network, which some researchers claim has increased under Musk.

Free Blue Checks Are Back For Some Accounts On Elon Musk’s X. Not Everyone Is Happy About It

Big-name corporations, including IBM, NBCUniversal, and its parent firm Comcast, said in November that they would stop advertising on twitter following a study by leftist advocacy group Media Matters that showed their commercials alongside material praising Nazis. Marking yet another setback in X’s efforts to reclaim ad funds, the platform’s primary source of revenue, Musk responded with an expletive-laden rant accusing the firms of “blackmail” and essentially telling them to leave.

Twitter has since moved to sue people who have highlighted the prevalence of hate speech and bigotry on the site, including Media Matters and the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate. Last Monday, a federal court rejected the lawsuit against the facility.

SOURCE – (AP)