Twitter removes blue ticks from verified accounts including Ant and Dec, the Pope and Cristiano Ronaldo

Twitter has started to remove legacy blue ticks from notable accounts, with celebrities, journalists and sportspeople all mourning the loss of the verified label. The marks were originally launched to ensure accounts belonged to the people they claimed to be.

Users will now have to pay for the blue tick, as part of the ‘Twitter Blue’ offering that Elon Musk hopes will solve the social media company’s financial woes. Despite some policy changes over the past few months, it appears the process of removal has now begun.