Twitter Blue Tick: From Kohli to Rahul Gandhi; These Indian bigwigs lost the badge

The American micro-blogging site Twitter on Thursday has taken the most unexpected step by removing the legacy verified blue ticks from all accounts. Now, the users who are now paying for the Twitter Blue subscription will have the verified blue checkmarks, which costs USD 8/month via the web and USD 11/month through the in-app payment on iOS and Android.

The legacy-verified blue ticks, that has now been removed, used to be given initially to people of public interest- celebrities, politicians and journalists. However, after Elon Musk's takeover, a Twitter Blue subscription model was introduced. Under this new model, only those individuals who have subscribed to the Twitter Blue subscription will have the blue badge, while businesses will have a gold tick badge. 

SRK, Rahul, and Kohli, among others who lost the badge

Due to the recent development undertaken by Musk's Twitter, several B-town celebrities including Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt and politicians like CM Yogi Adityanath, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma among others have lost their verified blue ticks from their Twitter accounts.

(Rahul Gandhi Twitter Screengrab)

(Virat Kohli's Twitter Screengrab)

The blue tick badge, introduced in 2009, served as a way of protecting public figures and reducing the spread of false and misleading information. It also helped the common users on the micro-blogging site to differentiate between the accounts of people of public interest and parody accounts. There was no charge for the people earlier to get the blue badge. 

But Elon Musk, who took charge of the social media platform in April 2022, is known for his experiments and modifications in the business. Musk launched Twitter Blue with the check-mark badge as one of the premium perks within two weeks of the company’s takeover in many parts of the world. 

However, the legacy blue tick badges have not been taken off suddenly from the accounts of people of public interest. In March 2023, Twitter posted from their official handle, “On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue."