The social media giant Twitter began removing the once-coveted blue tick verification from thousands of accounts on Thursday.
The move comes as owner Elon Musk attempts to overhaul the social media company to turn a profit.
Users who wish to retain the check beside their name must pay $84 a year (£67) to subscribe to Twitter Blue.
As the change happened, many formerly verified took to Twitter to joke about it or mourn the loss
The company first introduced the verification feature in 2009, after a former professional baseball player sued the social media giant over imposter accounts.
The blue check became a status symbol and a sign of authority. But in the new Twitter-verse, Musk wants users to pay to be verified.
The decision to monetise verification could usher in a massive cultural and power shift on the platform.
In the days before verification, Kanye West, Shaq, and Ewan McGregor were among the first celebrities to speak out about being impersonated on Twitter.
Now that the badges are gone, a celebrity’s follower count may become the only way to tell the difference between someone famous and an imposter.
Within a few hours of losing verification, an account posing as Hillary Clinton, complete with the same profile picture as the former US Senator, “announced” she would again run for the presidency.
Under Twitter’s new verification scheme, gold, grey, and blue badges are meant to provide more context to how an account was verified.
But the lack of verification is already causing confusion. In New York City, a new handle has claimed to be the “authentic Twitter account” representing the government.
Experts warn these are the kind of tweets that could lead to the spread of misinformation.
Musk has tried to frame the decision to do away with verification as a way to democratise content on the site. But critics have argued that the move will amplify disinformation as Twitter Blue subscribers will get prioritised rankings .
Musk has said that only verified accounts will appear in the site’s prominent For You stream.
