Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
- Twitter descended into chaos after Elon Musk's new verification system went haywire.
- Blue checks were reinstated on several accounts but users said they hadn't paid for them.
- The confusion over the checks raises questions about Musk's plans to overhaul the legacy system.
Twitter descended into chaos at the weekend after its owner, Elon Musk, appeared to make a dramatic U-turn by returning legacy blue checkmarks to some users after previously removing them. The move threw into question the future of his controversial new check regime.
British actor Ian McKellen tweeted on Sunday that although his "blue badge" reappeared, he was not paying for it. Rapper Lil Nas X, whose blue check remained, tweeted that he didn't pay for Twitter Blue. Referring to Musk, he tweeted: "u will feel my wrath Tesla man!"
—Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) April 23, 2023
The re-emergence of blue checks has since sparked a flurry of tweets from users saying they had not signed up for Twitter Blue, a subscription service, which requires users to pay an $8 monthly fee to have a blue check.
Musk has sought to overhaul the way verification works on Twitter since his takeover of the company last year, saying that the previous verification model was a "corrupt" system.
But Musk's chaotic reign, during which he has overseen mass layoffs and antagonized some of Twitter's most active users, has led many to publicly refuse to sign up to Twitter Blue.
Over the weekend, however, several accounts with one million or more followers had blue checks added, despite them only being removed a few days prior. Some users who had died, including Kobe Bryant and Anthony Bourdain, had blue checks on their profiles.
The return of legacy checks came days after Musk confirmed he was personally paying for Twitter Blue for certain accounts, including LeBron James and Stephen King. The latter tweeted that he wasn't a subscriber after noticing his check hadn't been removed.
—Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 22, 2023
The confusion extended to other accounts on the platform as a new system of gold checkmarks intended for businesses and news outlets also went haywire.
Musk has asked organizations to pay $1,000 a month for a gold checkmark, though it is unclear how many have done so. Some accounts that previously had them, such as NPR, no longer retain them. At the time of writing, NPR's account had a blue check.
Meanwhile, several accounts that wouldn't seem obvious candidates for gold checkmarks appeared to sport them after the weekend. These included the account for far-right political party Britain First, as well as a Disney fan account, which has since been suspended.
The ongoing confusion highlights the challenges Musk has faced in getting people to sign up for Twitter Blue. Bloomberg reported that traffic data showed only 4% of people who visited the Twitter Blue sales website in March subscribed.
Twitter did not respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.