Twitter removes the blue “check” from those who don’t pay for the service, with the exception of some celebrities technology

Say goodbye to the verification blue stamps of old users who refused to pay for Twitter Blue. After false alarms, over the course of the afternoon and night on Thursday, thousands of people’s blue file badges disappeared, including celebrities and politicians, such as Hillary ClintonAnd Donald TrumpAnd Bill Gates And Kim kardashian, whose identity has been verified. This blue tick only appears next to the profiles of those who have paid for the subscription. Of course, the platform has not removed the code from everyone who does not pay. It appears that Elon Musk has chosen who can continue to benefit from the service for free. Between the angry tweets and the prank, celebrity users were identified who didn’t disappear, even those who openly declared they wouldn’t pay for a subscription.

writer Best sellers King Stephen It is one of them. Yesterday afternoon, he confirmed that he did not subscribe and did not show him his phone number, as confirmed by his account. A little later, Elon Musk replied, “You’re welcome,” indicating that he would be pay him badge. It is also maintained by a representative Star Trek William Shatner and NBA idol LeBron James, one of the hottest celebrities ever paid for Twitter Blue (as confirmed the edgeAnd James never paid). Yes, he got e-mail From a Twitter employee claiming to “extend a free Twitter Blue subscription to your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.”

The withdrawal of verification also affects businesses. During Friday morning some advertisers appeared on social media I got a call by the company that, as of today, ensures that accounts “must have a blue badge or sign up for Twitter Blue or Verified Organizations’ plan to continue placing ads on Twitter.” This corporate version costs $1,000 per month (about €910), and an additional $50, also per month, for each affiliate account added.

Amid celebrity fanfare and validation, Twitter finally removed the “government funded media” labels it had added to the profiles of Britain’s RTVE and BBC. Also from the American NPR and the Canadian CBC that at the beginning of the week, they temporarily suspended their activity on the platform after imposing these labels, which were applied initially only for advertising media From countries where freedom of speech is in question, such as the Russian RT or the Chinese Xinhua Agency. Twitter also removed the “China state media” tag from Xinhua News accounts, as well as from journalists associated with Chinese government-supported publications. < Russian propaganda sites such as RT (whose account has been suspended in the EU) or Tass have also stopped displaying the warning.

Until then, independent editorial outlets such as the BBC, PBS, and NPR were exempt from a similar classification. Twitter’s initial designation for these Western networks was “government funded” and later “public funded”. Nowadays, many media (like country) have a gold seal awarded unilaterally by the platform for what you consider to be an “official Twitter Approved Organizations business account.”

Twitter Blue in Spain costs €7 per month if you choose an annual plan, and €8 on a monthly plan, as long as you subscribe from their website. Users who want to get the Blue Seal from their mobile device, Android or iOS, will have to pay 11 euros. It will not be available to everyone. Only accounts registered for at least 90 days will be able to access this product, activated with a confirmation phone number and payment.

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