As of earlier this month, only individuals and businesses who subscribe to Twitter Blue will receive the iconic blue check mark. Accounts that used to have a so-called ‘legacy checkmark’ have now lost it. That decision has drawn a lot of criticism from Twitter, including from Stephen King and LeBron James.
As ‘revenge’, Elon Musk has now given the biggest critics a Twitter Blue subscription, which he says he paid for himself. Without asking, it now seems as if the major opponents are paying for Twitter Blue.
But it didn’t stop there. Several accounts of deceased celebrities have suddenly received a blue check mark after their name, such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Chadwick Boseman, Chester Bennington and Pelé, The Verge reports. According to Twitter, the brutally murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi pays eight dollars a month for Twitter Blue.
Campaign against Twitter Blue
Since the big blue tick change, there is one Twitter user in particular who has become a thorn in Elon Musk’s side. User dril has started a campaign called #BlockTheBlue, to block all subscribers of Twitter Blue on the platform.
In response, Musk has now also “given” dril’s account a free Twitter Blue subscription, alongside a slew of campaign advocates. It is now even being examined whether forcing Twitter Blue and the accompanying blue check mark does not go against the Lanham Act.
