Elon Musk says Twitter is paying for a few checks

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Elon Musk says Twitter is paying for a few checks

On Thursday, Twitter began removing legacy blue checkmarks from its user profiles, with prominent individuals such as pop icon Beyonce and Pope Francis losing their verified statuses.

Some people, such as author Stephen King and basketball star LeBron James, had their checkmarks.

My Twitter account says I subscribed to Twitter Blue, the Shining author King, who has previously called Musk a terrible fit for Twitter. My Twitter account says I have given a phone number. Musk responded back to him: You're welcome namaste, with a hands folded emoji.

The Verge reported that James, who has previously said he would not pay for verification, did not pay to keep the check mark.

Musk said: I'm paying for a few personally. After Twittering, Just Shatner, LeBron and King referred to Star Trek star William Shatner, who had complained last month about having to pay to keep his blue checkmark.

Among those lost badges were former U.S. president Donald Trump, Microsoft Corp. cofounder Bill Gates and reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

Under Musk's management, Twitter has changed how it handouts the coveted blue checkmarks that were previously given to prominent individuals, journalists, executives, politicians and establishments after verifying their identity. It served as a mark of authenticity.

In November, Musk said Twitter would begin charging eight per month for the badge in an effort to launch new revenue streams beyond advertising.

The company later offered check-marks in different colors - gold for businesses and a gray for government and multilateral organizations and officials.

It has also started displaying labels such as state-affiliated and automated by against accounts to show when an account is linked to a government or is a bot.

U.S. non-profit National Public Radio NPR stopped posting content on its 52 official Twitter feeds after Twitter labeled it state-affiliated media and later government-funded media Public broadcaster Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBC also paused its activities on Twitter and sparred with Musk after Twitter's definition of government-funded media.