Bill Gates and numerous organizations lost their blue checkmarks from Twitter on Thursday.
On Thursday, Twitter started removing the blue checkmarks off the verified accounts of individuals, including celebrities, international organizations, and public figures.
Among those who lost their blue marks were Donald Trump and Justin Bieber.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, who saw the evaluation of the company after purchasing it for $44 billion, said he would end the “lords [and] peasants system,” adding that people could keep their badges for $8. Musk previously claimed that this would “democratize journalism [and] empower the voice of the people.” On the dates when the marks were supposed to be removed, the action did not take place. However, on Thursday, a number of organizations and celebrities, including Bill Gates
The tweet from US Senator Brian Schatz stated: “There really ought to be a way for emergency managers to verify that they are real on this website or imposters will cause suffering and death.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which takes over after hurricanes and devastating storms, is mentioned in his letter. “I am not complaining about my own tick mark, I just think during natural disasters it’s essential to know that FEMA is actually FEMA,” he wrote.
In a reaction to another tweet, Musk stated: “It was only for Star Trek actor William Shatner, basketball superstar LeBron James, and author Stephen King.” Some people claimed to have kept the blue ticks, for which Musk claimed to be personally paying.
Press releases
After the blue badges were taken down, news organizations began to complain to Twitter about the labels that seem to be connected to their accounts, signifying “state-affiliated” or “government funded.”
However, AFP noted that many prominent media accounts had also deleted those.
As of Friday morning, 0600 GMT, they were no longer visible on the Twitter accounts of NPR in the US, CBC in Canada, Xinhua, the official news agency of China, and RT in Russia.
Indicating that the organizations were “the official voice of the nation-state abroad” was the goal of such branding, according to Twitter.
Recently, though, labels were applied to the accounts of media institutions that get public funds but are not under the jurisdiction of any government.
After being awarded the honor, NPR and CBC stopped using Twitter.
Former Global Times editor Hu Xijin posted on Twitter, saying: “I support Twitter’s removal of all ‘State-affiliated media’ labels.”
His account was not labeled as being associated with the Chinese government either.