Elon Musk’s Twitter regulations have caused a commotion in the social media community, with Twitter starting to remove the verification badges of famous personalities as he had promised.
The verification badges of Afrobeat icons Davido, Burna Boy, and Wizkid are among those that have disappeared, indicating that they did not comply with the new rules.
Twitter also removed the verification badges of prominent Nigerian politicians including President Muhammadu Buhari, President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mr Peter Obi, among others.
The absence of verification badges on their Twitter profiles has raised concerns about the future course of Twitter and its capacity to maintain its user base.
The previous leadership of Twitter had given verified blue check marks to high-profile individuals and public organizations. While the company had initially planned to end the system on 1st April, nothing happened.
Recall that in 2022, Twitter had plans to begin charging users $8 per month for verification, which is part of a premium service under Musk’s leadership. The Twitter Blue premium subscription, which costs $4.99 per month, is also slated to increase to $19.99, according to The Verge, citing internal correspondence and sources.
Musk announced last 30th October that the verification process would be entirely revamped. Failure to adhere to Musk’s rules resulted in an automatic loss of verification, which differentiates a celebrity’s page from that of a regular user.
In addition to Davido, Burna Boy, and Wizkid, other prominent celebrities such as Beyonce and Cristiano Ronaldo, Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Kim Kardashian had lost their check marks.
Prominent TV personalities such as CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow lost theirs, as well. Public figures relating to all sectors of society, from Bill Gates to Pope Francis, also lost their checks.
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