Twitter reinstates Blue verification mark for top accounts even if they didn't pay

Twitter is restoring Blue tick marks for large accounts - even if they didn't pay for subscriptions - after removing thousands of legacy verification checkmarks on April 20.

Several top Twitter accounts (with over 1 million followers) received their verification marks back over the weekend. Despite this, many said they did not pay for the badges, including Neil Gaiman, footballer Riyad Maharez, and actress Janel Parrish Long.

As a result of Elon Musk and co's handling of legacy checkmarks, several large and notable Twitter accounts have lost their verification mark over the last few days, including those belonging to the Pope and Lady Gaga. According to Musk, he was paying for the subscription for a few accounts, including those belonging to Lebron James and Stephen King. It appears that the company is extending the gift to a variety of accounts.

Earlier this year, the New York Times reported that Twitter was considering granting a free verification mark to the top 10,000 brands and companies. Whether the same policy is being applied to individual accounts is still to be determined. According to a programmer named Travis Brown, almost 110 accounts with more than one million followers do not currently have Twitter verification. There are notable social media influencers without a verified profile, including actor Ryan Reynolds and Brazilian social media influencer Felipe Neto.

Twitter's paid plan was only available to 4.8% of legacy verified accounts after the checks were removed, according to Brown's GitHub page. As a result of the company's gifting subscriptions to large followings, the Blue subscription numbers only increased by 12,000 last week.

Several false celebrities and brand accounts have plagued the site since Musk took over the company. Musk launched paid verification shortly after taking over, but the move backfired. Twitter is also asking brands to pay for verification to run ads on the platform. The ads account page has remained the same despite the company sending emails to various accounts about mandatory verification requirements for advertisements. Furthermore, all accounts on the social network have a shortcut to signing up for verified organization services.