Twitter has introduced a new feature known as Twitter Blue, which requires users to pay to maintain the authenticity of their profiles, including the blue checkmark. Meanwhile, the blue marks have been removed from the Indian athletes Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and PV Sindhu.
Top India athletes, including the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, have lost the blue checkmarks that verified their identities on the microblogging website Twitter. As a measure against impersonation and spam on the social media platform, the legacy blue checkmarks were previously granted for free to journalists, public officials, and celebrities.
On Thursday, Twitter, which was acquired by business magnate and Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year, removed the blue marks from free accounts. We will remove legacy verified checkmarks on 4/20,” the official Twitter Verified account tweeted on Wednesday.
A multitude of Indian sporting icons have lost their blue ticks, including World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal, Neeraj Chopra and Bajrang Punia, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, two-time World Boxing Champion Nikhat Zareen, Sania Mirza, Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri and men’s hockey custodian PR Sreejes.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe, and Stephen Curry, a legend in basketball, are no longer “verified” on the social media platform. Only individuals and businesses who pay for the premium Twitter Blue subscription will now have the verified badge displayed on their profiles. The monthly subscription fee for Twitter Blue is Rs 650 on the web and Rs 900 on mobile devices.