Twitter puts end to blue tick for users who don’t pay

The Elon Musk-owned social media platform has delivered on its promise to remove blue verification checks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee to keep them.

The blue checks disappeared on Thursday from the accounts of some of the most followed celebrities and public figures on Twitter, including Pope Francis, Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump and Lady Gaga.

The purge comes after owner Elon Musk introduced a new paid service last year called Twitter Blue with the intention to “democratize journalism and empower the voice of the people.”