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Science & Tech
Liam O'Dell
Apr 22, 2023
Related video: Elon Musk 'personally' paying for LeBron James and Stephen King's Twitter Blue subscriptions
Cover Media/VideoElephant
After failing to remove ‘legacy’ blue ticks from ‘notable’ Twitter accounts on April Fools’ Day, owner Elon Musk finally managed to take away verification from most celebrities and high-profile figures who refused to pay for a Twitter Blue subscription on Thursday (yes, he actually did it on 4/20).
However, the move has already been met with strong opposition, and now there’s a whole campaign underway to undermine Musk’s paid subscription model – in the form of the trending hashtag #BlockTheBlue.
Twitter content creator Dril wrote back in November that he would “absolutely block on sight” anyone who had paid for Blue, and in comments made to Mashable, he explained his approach to Blue subscribers was “funny”.
“99 per cent of Twitter Blue guys are dead-eyed cretins who are usually trying to sell you something stupid and expensive, and now they want to pay a monthly subscription fee to boost their dogs*** posts front and center.
“Blocking them and encouraging others to do the same on a massive scale is the complete opposite of what they want,” he said.
It now appears many other accounts are on board with the idea:
\u201cNow the checks really are block on command. Sorry to anybody who experimented with it, you are the baby and this is the bathwater.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1682015124
\u201cI had already blocked nearly 200,000 twitter blue accounts so I didn't realize how bad it was until I used my alt. All the worst people with the dumbest things to say are at the top of the replies despite unverified user replies having far more likes and retweet. #BlockTheBlue\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf7 (@Alejandra Caraballo \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf7) 1682129192
\u201ci\u2019ve determined #BlockTheBlue is the funniest possible thing we can do, just block bluechecks on sight. mutuals i follow who have bluechecks you better get rid of them you have a chance here\u201d— pudding person (@pudding person) 1682110181
\u201cMe blocking all of the Twitter Blue accounts I come across today:\n#BlockTheBlue\u201d— Craig Williams (@Craig Williams) 1682108256
\u201cok it's on sight #BlockTheBlue\u201d— ACABylon Bot, LLC (@ACABylon Bot, LLC) 1682015970
\u201cHappy "Block the Blue Checkmarks Day" to all those who celebrate.\u201d— The Nerdy Sasquatch\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udd1e (@The Nerdy Sasquatch\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udd1e) 1681993723
\u201creminder that if too many elon paypigs block you, twitter will deboost your account, giving you an incentive to #BlockTheBlue before they can block you.\u201d— jenny_tightpants\ud83e\ude91 (@jenny_tightpants\ud83e\ude91) 1682064208
\u201cSadly, the blue check has now become an almost perfect signal that its bearer is a white nationalist convinced that climate activism is a Soros-sponsored scam. (and/or crypto dude).\nI've never blocked anyone, but this approach seems sound.\nhttps://t.co/Psc6Xde6MX\u201d— Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben) 1682106356
\u201cIf you\u2019re participating in #BlockTheBlue, the comment section of this tweet lines them all up for that sweet sweet block button.\u201d— Kateration (@Kateration) 1682085927
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Although of course, Musk isn’t exactly happy with the plan to deprive Twitter of some revenue, and like the free speech absolutist he is, the @BlockTheBlue account has been suspended from the platform:
\u201c1. Elon demands $8.\n\n2. Legacy bluechecks refuse.\n\n3. Elon yanks legacy bluechecks.\n\n4. Legacy bluechecks still refuse.\n\n5. Elon realizes bluechecks now worthless.\n\n6. Elon gifts bluechecks to fave celebs.\n\n7. Elon groupies demand others \u201cPay the 8!\u201d\n\n8. #BlockTheBlue trends.\n\n9.\u201d— Keith Boykin (@Keith Boykin) 1682109369
\u201cIsn't all the free speech around here amazing guys? #BlockTheBlue\u201d— DJ Skila (@DJ Skila) 1682107250
\u201cWait they seriously suspended @BlockTheBlue?! Talk about petty. #BlockTheBlue\u201d— egallager@treehouse.systems (@egallager@treehouse.systems) 1682105979
\u201cI love how Elon is completely oblivious to the Streisand effect. \n\nHe sees something that he dislikes (i.e. #BlockTheBlue) and thinks that by eliminating the source means getting rid of his problem but by doing that we know that he\u2019s upset and we won\u2019t shut up about as a result.\u201d— Barra (@Barra) 1682111051
This isn’t the first time Musk has been accused of being “petty” in his management of the social media network either, as he came under fire earlier this month for his reaction to a new Twitter-like feature from the newsletter platform Substack.
It is not clear what Twitter rules @BlockTheBlue has violated to warrant a suspension.
And rather unhelpfully, when approached by indy100 for comment, Twitter once again auto-replied with “💩”.
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