- EDITOR’S BRIEF: Twitter has reinstated blue verification badges for users with more than one million followers, including politicians, media personalities, and celebrities. Users will now have to pay a monthly subscription fee under Twitter Blue to have the badge, which will also give them access to additional features such as priority replies, mentions, and searches, the ability to post long videos and audio, and half as many adverts.
Twitter users with more than one million followers have regained their blue verification badges. The move saw some of Kenya’s most-followed people, including Narc leader Martha Karua, Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, Azimio Spokesperson Makau Mutua, CNN Journalist Larry Madowo, media houses such as The Star, Citizen News, and Kenyans also get their badges back.
In addition, former US President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Footballer Christiano Ronaldo, and musician Beyonce, who had lost their badges, also got them back.
This follows Twitter’s announcement last year that users would have to pay a monthly subscription fee under Twitter Blue to have the badge. However, on Friday, some Twitter users lost their blue verification badges after owner Elon Musk removed them for failing to pay the monthly subscription fee of Sh972 ($8) for Twitter Blue.
The move had some users worried that it would encourage the spread of misinformation and fake news. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was among the first people to lose their verification badge on April 9. Twitter users who want the verification mark will now have to reapply under Twitter Blue.
Under Twitter Blue, subscribers will enjoy priorities in replies, mentions, and searches, which Musk said was essential to defeat spam and scams. They will also be able to post long videos and audio and get half as many adverts. “There will also be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians,” Musk said.
Twitter’s verification, denoted by a blue check next to the name of the user’s handle, was launched in 2009, three years after the site’s launch. The idea of verification was to prove the identity of a user. According to the Independent, it was first introduced after baseball legend Tony La Russa filed a lawsuit against Twitter in 2009 over an impersonator.
