Twitter to Remove Legacy Verified Marks from Non-Twitter Blue Accounts Starting April 1

Twitter has announced that it will be removing the legacy verified marks from non-Twitter Blue user accounts starting April 1, 2023. The move is part of the company's efforts to create a model where only paid subscribers and members of approved organizations will have verified marks for their accounts.

The legacy verified program will be wound down gradually, and legacy verified checkmarks will be removed. To keep the blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue, the company's subscription-based service. The blue verification mark is now a feature of Twitter Blue subscription. Twitter accounts are now verified with three colours – Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not). All verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.

The decision to eliminate the old verification system is part of the changes announced by Elon Musk when he took over Twitter in 2022. "Far too many corrupt legacy Blue ‘verification’ checkmarks exist, so no choice but to remove legacy Blue in coming months," Musk tweeted in November last year.

In India, Twitter Blue subscription is available for a monthly fee of ₹650 on the web and ₹900 on mobile devices. However, Twitter has also announced that it will no longer allow accounts to enrol in the text message/SMS method of 2FA unless they are Twitter Blue subscribers. This new rule came into effect from March 20.

If you do not want to pay for Twitter Blue or are afraid of losing your account, switching from Twitter's phone-based 2FA to more secure options is pretty easy. You can follow these simple steps to switch to your preferred 2FA method:

Step 1: Open Twitter

Step 2: Click on Security and Account Access

Step 3: Choose Two-Factor Authentication

Step 4: Choose Your Preferred 2FA Method

With these changes, Twitter aims to create a more secure and authentic platform for its users, where verified accounts are reserved for paid subscribers and members of approved organizations.