Twitter has started removing blue verification tick from all user profiles who have not paid the $8 per month subscription fee. Several celebrities including the Pope, Beyonce, Hillary Clinton, Cristiano Ronaldo and JK Rowling have lost their verification status.

The Elon Musk-led platform had on April 19, Thursday warned that it is removing legacy verified checkmarks. Twitter further added that individuals will have to sign up for Twitter Blue to retain their status.

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American rapper Jay-Z, former US President Donald Trump, Labour and Conservative parties have also lost their blue tick. Twitter had approximately 300,000 verified users under the original blue tick system – almost all of them were public figures.

In the United Kingdom the Twitter the blue tick costs up to £11 a month. In India, it is Rs 650 per month.

Comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted about losing his blue tick. “My blue tick has gone. I’m not sure if I’m really me or not,” he said, alongside a zoomed in image of himself.

Richard Osman quoted the official post from Twitter Verified. He tweeted: “Farewell blue tick, old friend. Don’t forget, always set your feed to ‘Following’ rather than ‘For You’.

“Then you’ll keep seeing the people you actually follow, and not people who’ve paid for attention.”

Indian cricketers Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni also lost their blue ticks.

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“The #BlueCheckMark is gone which means now it’s easier to identify the trolls & maga lunatics. No sane person would pay for Twitter blue & give $$ to a greedy billionaire. The verified badge is now the new red MAGA hat. Boycott Twitter Blue Legacy forever 🖕” a Twitter user said.

“It is amazing how within a few months Elon Musk turned the blue check mark from a “status symbol” to “THIS MF’ER PAID FOR TWITTER”. It has become an object of utter mockery,” another one added.

Accounts have different coloured checkmarks on Twitter. The gold one indicates that it is a verified business. Grey stands for a government representative or someone from a multilateral organisation or an official.

Elon Musk took over Twitter last October for $44 billion.