I don’t know if this is a April fool’s joke or not but the new owner of Twitter has announced that it will removes verified blue badges beginning from April 1st 2023. What this means is that previously verified blue check-mark regime will soon be history.
The only individual Twitter users who will have verified blue check-marks are those paying for Twitter Blue, which in the U.S. costs $8/month via the web and $11/month through in-app payment on iOS and Android.
This comes in an effort to boost Twitter Blue, a paid certification program. This change will take effect on April 1st, and has been the subject of both praise and criticism.
Currently, Twitter Blue allows anyone to afford the blue badge, but this wasn’t always the case. The blue badge used to be awarded based on various criteria by the “Twitter Verified” section of the platform. However, with the upcoming change, all certified accounts will lose their blue badge, and individuals who wish to keep their blue badge can do so by signing up for Twitter Blue.