Amitabh Bachchan, SRK, Donald Trump among celebs to lose Twitter 'blue tick'

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 21

Lakhs of Twitter users woke up on Friday morning to see their ‘blue tick’ gone. Twitter’s blue checkmarks, have now been replaced by paid subscription service “Twitter Blue”, a premium version of the micro-blogging platform, at about Rs 9,400 annually, including taxes.

Costs Rs 9,400/year

• Twitter has introduced paid subscription service ‘Twitter Blue’
• It’s premium version, costs about Rs 9,400/year, including taxes
• Many high-profile users yet to get subscription, lose ‘verified’ status
• Among them are Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Virat Kohli, Donald Trump, Bill Gates and Rahul Gandhi

Many high-profile users, who had not paid for the subscription, have lost their ‘verified’ status. Among them are filmstars Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and politicians Yogi Adityanath, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Former US President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and reality TV star Kim Kardashian too are among those to have lost their ‘blue tick’ badges. Requesting that his ‘blue tick’ be restored, Bachchan tweeted in Awadhi: “T 4623 - Hey Twitter! Are you listening? I have paid for the subscription service... so please put back the blue lotus in front of my name so that people know that I am Amitabh Bachchan. I am making the request with folded hands...”

Twitter announced on Thursday: “Tomorrow, 4/20 (April 20), we are removing legacy verified checkmarks. To remain verified on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here…”

Twitter launched the blue checkmark system in 2009 to distinguish the authenticity of accounts of celebrities, politicians, brands, news organisations, and other high-profile individuals. The objective was to ensure that users could trust the identity of the account they were interacting with and avoid being misled by fake accounts. Government agencies, non-profit organisations and public-service accounts worldwide too found themselves stripped of the 'verified' status.

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