Elon Musk said Twitter will finally remove the old blue checkmarks on April 20 or 4/20 because he can’t let this joke go. This is the “final date”, he said in a tweet. If the move goes ahead, Twitter will have verification marks only for paid users and businesses, and government entities and officials.
The company originally announced last month that the legacy checkmarks will be removed on April 1. But like many deadlines promised by Musk, the date passed and nothing happened.
Earlier today, Musk gave an interview to the BBC during a Twitter Spaces session. Asked about the impact of removing verification marks on the spread of misinformation, Musk said, “I think the media is a driver of misinformation way more than they’d like to admit.”
Earlier this month, in a tweet now deletedMusk pointed out that the company will give “a few weeks grace” to old verified accounts.
Last month, Musk also said Twitter would stop recommending unverified accounts on his “For You” algorithmic timeline from April 15. Recently, the company changed the label displayed when someone taps the verification mark to “This account is verified because they follow Twitter Blue or are a former verified account.” This made it harder for people to tell the difference between Twitter Blue followers and older verified accounts.
The social network would also work on government ID verificationwho users of Twitter Blue them hide their check marks.
Additionally, Musk lobbied for media companies and brands to pay for an organizational audit that costs $1,000 a month. He removed the New York Times verification mark after the publication refused to pay for it. Besides the NYT, other publications like the Washington Post and Politico also stated that they would not pay any verification fees.