Legacy blue ticks have started being removed from Twitter, with thousands of celebrities hit by the sudden change.
The social media site is continuing its push to drive more people towards signing up for Twitter Blue, at a cost of £8 per month for those based in the UK.
The blue check marks have been a part of the social media site for years, initially indicating that someone in the public eye, such as celebrities, leaders and journalists, were authentic.
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Some of the biggest accounts losing their ticks include footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, cricketer Virat Kohli and former US president Donald Trump, as well as the official Twitter page for the Pope.
Famous users with large followings such as Piers Morgan, Beyonce, JK Rowling, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga and Jay-Z have also lost their blue ticks, as did Prince William, Kate Middleton and large organisations such as the Labour Party and the official Conservative Party.
British politicians to have been stripped of their symbol include Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng.
Twitter Verified tweeted that legacy verified checkmarks would be removed from the site on April 20, with the main way of getting a blue tick being to sign up for Twitter Blue. Legacy checkmarks began disappearing towards the end of Thursday.
Many other users losing their ticks mourned the occasion, tweeting “my blue tick has passed away” and “RIP to my blue tick”.
Twitter Verified Organisations enables bodies of 'all types', including businesses, non-profit groups and government institutions, to sign up and manage their verification and to affiliate and verify any related account - but it costs a base price of £950 a month.
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