In the latest strange twist of events, Twitter appears to have re-verified the accounts of several dead celebrities on its platform. The Elon Musk-owned social media site is displaying blue checkmarks on the accounts of Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, and Michael Jackson.
When clicking on the verification icon, the prompt reads “this account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.” This implies the celebrities posthumously spent $8 ($10 CAN) to have the symbol put on their accounts.
It is possible that a Twitter Blue subscription may have been purchased by the person in charge of a deceased celebrity’s likeness. However, many critics believe it is a tone-deaf example of Musk attempting to promote Twitter Blue on the platform. This comes not long after Musk admitted to paying for several blue checkmarks on behalf of several celebrities.
This latest controversy comes amid the transition away from the legacy blue checkmark system on Twitter. The relaunch of Twitter Blue continues to be marred with controversy.
Source: Business Insider
Image credit: Twitter
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