The BBC, and thousands of other Twitter accounts, have lost their verification badges as the social media giant removes “legacy verified checkmarks.”
Individuals have to pay £8 per month to stay verified through a subscription to Twitter Blue, with businesses having to pay $1000 per month.
“Legacy verified” accounts are those who were verified for being ‘notable,’ most of whom had the badge attached to their profiles before Elon Musk’s $44bn takeover of the site last year.
The removal of checkmarks has been labelled as causing “chaos and confusion” as it becomes unclear if a user, and especially a business or institution, is legitimate.
An account impersonating the New York City Government. The accounts are indistinguishable without the verification mark.
Twitter owner Elon Musk is “personally” paying to keep blue ticks on the accounts of several notable people despite many claiming they would not pay to keep their verified checkmark.
Author Stephen King, basketball star LeBron James and actor William Shatner are among the stars whose blue ticks remain, despite claiming that they had not paid a subscription.
American pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company had $15bn wiped off their stock when a verified account impersonating them announced they were making insulin free.