The move comes after Twitter began removing the legacy blue verified checkmarks from thousands of accounts as the social media site continues its push to drive more people towards signing up for its paid-for Twitter Blue status.
Prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, in order to receive the Verified badge, an account had to meet three criteria: authentic, notable and active. Types of accounts that were eligible for the verification included government, news organisations, brands and content creators.
Twitter Verified tweeted that these legacy verified checkmarks would be removed from the site starting from 20 April, with the primary way of getting a blue tick now being to sign up for Twitter Blue, which carries a monthly fee.
Users who pay £9.60 a month, or £115.20 annually, receive the blue tick and can post longer tweets up to 10,000 characters. Other select features available only to subscribers include non-fungible token (NFT) profile pictures,...