Blue check loophole that bypasses Elon Musk's subscription plan

Elon Musk's attempts to encourage the spread of paid Twitter subscriptions had several flaws. Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Twitter users have discovered a bug that allows them to get their blue checkmarks back without paying for them.

The removal of blue checkmarks that used to signal the authenticity of an account of public interest began last month. but mired in spreads.

Elon Musk confirmed that the company would begin removing the blue ticks on April 20, affecting thousands of celebrities and Twitter users who didn't want to pay for a Twitter Blue subscription.

Some famous accounts, usually with over one million followers, saw their ticks come back after a few days.

Other Twitter users who lost their blue checkmarks have now found that if they click «edit profile» and click save, even without making changes, their blue checkmarks will be back.

But if they reload the app or webpage, the checkmark will disappear again.

Mr Musk's rollout of the subscription service, which costs £11 a month in the UK, has been marred by erratic bugs.

Prominent users last week , whose blue ticks were restored for free, publicly complained that their profiles were marked as “following Twitter Blue.”

Sir Ian McKellen, star of The Lord of the Rings and X-Men. , tweeted that he «doesn't pay for the honor» of having his blue tick back.

Despite the fact that clicking on a blue icon that mysteriously appeared next to with my name, I don't pay for «honor».

— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) April 23, 2023

The loss of blue checkmarks as a verification tool has raised concerns that scammers and impersonators will flood the social media platform and spread misinformation.

Anyone can now get a blue tick by paying for a subscription, which means the user is no longer verified as genuine.

According to Twitter's new policy, subscribers will get more visibility into their tweets, see fewer ads, and be able to send longer messages.

Musk previously admitted that he personally paid to verify several celebrities, including basketball star LeBron James and writer Stephen King, after they refused to sign.

Mr. Musk, who bought Twitter last October, insisted that the old verification regime was unfair and couldn't stop spam or accounts impersonating others.

He did encourage people to pay for Twitter has been a key part of its business strategy since it bought the social network for $44 billion last year.

However, according to researcher Travis Brown, so far only about 5% of outdated verified accounts have subscribed to the new paid service Twitter Blue.

Former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said on Saturday that he no longer trusts Mr. According to CNN, Musk is the right leader for the platform.

He declared Musk «the only solution» he trusted, but backed down in posts on Bluesky, a rival microblogging service he maintains.

< p>When asked by a user if he thought Musk was the best steward of Twitter, Dorsey replied, «No.»

He said he didn't think Musk was «doing the right thing.» «, adding that he does not believe the board should have forced the sale.

Mr Dorsey said Mr Musk «should have given up» on the Twitter acquisition and accused the board of trying to force him to go through a deal. a deal when he tried to refuse.

«Everything went wrong,» said Mr. Dorsey. «But it happened, and all we can do now is create something to make sure this doesn't happen again.»

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.