DP Gachagua loses Twitter verification, faces payment for its return
On Sunday, April 9, 2023, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Twitter verification badge was revoked, requiring him to pay to regain it.
Despite the loss, Gachagua continued to post on his Twitter account, wishing Kenyans a happy Easter. With 550,000 followers, the badge has been important in indicating that Gachagua is a public figure in society.
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Twitter recently announced it would begin charging individuals interested in obtaining a verification badge.
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In October 2022, Elon Musk hinted at turning the verification feature into a subscription service, where individuals would have to pay Sh2,428 per month to maintain their blue tick.
Verified accounts will have 90 days to move to Twitter Blue or risk losing their verification badge. Twitter employees have been given a deadline of November 7 to move forward with this new subscription plan or leave.
Twitter Blue, introduced in 2021, is an opt-in, monthly subscription that provides exclusive access to premium features, allowing users to customize their Twitter experience. It is yet to be seen how this service will be rolled out globally, with the new payment structure in place.
Gachagua is not the first public figure to lose their verification badge, and how others will react to Twitter’s new payment structure remains to be seen.
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