Twitter reached a new level of chaos and misunderstanding when public figures realized on Saturday, April 22, that their account was again benefiting from a blue badge of certification without their having asked for it. “On my soul I didn’t pay for Twitter Blue, Tesla man you’ll feel my wrath! », tweeted American rapper Lil Nas Xwhose profile displays the blue checkmark.
Formerly free, and a guarantee of authenticity and notoriety, it now means that the user is subscribed to Twitter Blue (for 8 monthly dollars, or 7.2 euros) and that his telephone number has been verified by the platform. . On Thursday, accounts that had the old blue badge lost it unless they paid for the new one, following Elon Musk’s strategy put in place over the winter to authenticate users and generate new revenue.
But only a tiny fraction of former distinguished users have subscribed – less than 5% of the 407,000 profiles concerned, according to researcher Travis Brown. On Friday and Saturday, a growing number of personalities found a blue tick, apparently without action on their part, such as writer Stephen King, NBA champion LeBron James or former President Donald Trump.
“No, it’s no, guys”
“No, it’s no, guys”the technology journalist tweeted on Saturday Kara Swisherexplaining that he had been “force checked”without sound ” consent “. “People need to know: does Elon love me for me or for the 1.49 million people who follow me? »she added, an hour after claiming she would not pay “8 bucks a month for a blue tick and blah tools”.
Many authenticated users despite themselves were keen to let it be known that they had nothing to do with it, because the controversial badge has become a symbol of support for Elon Musk. “Please note that I have not subscribed to Twitter Blue, although for some mysterious reason my blue tick is appearing again”, said publicist Rick Wilson.
Progressive economist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, who once poked fun at the“poorly controlled impulsiveness” of Elon Musk in July, said on Saturday: “I have nothing to do with it and I certainly don’t pay. » The boss of Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX replied to him with the image of a baby with a face smeared in tomato sauce, crying in front of his plate of pasta and wearing a bib stamped with the blue tick.
Mr. Musk announced on Friday on the social network that he “paid personally for some subscriptions”. ” Checkmate “he mysteriously tweeted Saturdayamid speculation. “Musk’s business model is to falsify celebrity endorsements like a box of penis-enlarging pills”, launched the lawyer Max Kennerly. Accounts of deceased people, such as American chef Anthony Bourdain, have also received the new blue badge.
Strike by some public media
And many official media accounts also got it, even the New York Timeswhich had lost its certification in early April after Elon Musk called the information published there a “propaganda”. Some large press groups have a golden badge reserved for “verified organizations” who pay at least $1,000 a month.
US public radio NPR and public media group CBC Radio-Canada had still not resumed tweeting as of Saturday. These two organizations recently suspended their activities on Twitter in protest of the labels assigned to them by Twitter: “government funded media” Or “state-affiliated”terms previously reserved for non-independent media, funded by autocratic governments.
On Friday, Elon Musk’s platform removed these labels, including for the official Chinese agency Xinhua (New China) or the Russian RT. “Was the real purpose of all this NPR fuss to help China and Russia? Looks good: By removing labels from state-controlled media, Twitter is helping propaganda”, pointed out Kara Swisher on Saturday morning. Agence France-Presse did not contact Twitter, which no longer officially responds to the press except with an emoticon in the shape of a poop.