Twitter is restoring its blue verification badges free of charge for celebrities with over one million followers after bringing in a subscription fee for them.

While verified accounts began losing their blue tick ‘status’ on 20 April, many simply continued using the platform.

According to The Guardian, less than 500 of the 400,000 Twitter users that had a blue tick prior to the new service actually signed up for the subscription. Meanwhile, nearly the same number of users cancelled their subscription, resulting in a boost in revenue of lower than $300 a month.

Twitter Blue began charging users fees starting from $8 per month to have verified badges on their accounts – a service which was free until Elon Musk’s takeover last year.

Twitter previously announced plans for different-coloured verification badges to be rolled out in addition to the longstanding blue verification in a move that Musk said was “painful, but necessary”.

The verification subscription plans were launched in a bid to shore up the platform’s finances after a number of high-profile advertisers such as General Motors pulled advertising.

The advertiser exodus arose from concerns the platform could descend into a right-wing hotbed after controversial figures such as former president Donald Trump and rapper Ye had their accounts reinstated following bans for inciting political violence and antisemitism respectively.

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