A Twitter bug is reportedly letting users get back their blue verification checkmarks for free.

The hack seems to work on accounts that previously were ‘legacy verified’ or did not pay for a blue tick.

Some users reported that they were able to get back their blue ticks on Twitter by adding the phrase ‘former blue check’ to their bios.

Recently, Twitter owner and CEO Musk performed a promised purge of legacy verified users’ blue ticks after previously announcing the roll-out of his new subscription service for the platform, Twitter Blue, which costs $8 per month.

While some users bought the subscription to retain their verified status, many wanted no part of it.

Adding “former blue check” to my bio caused a blue check to appear. “Legacy blue check” also worked. “Ex blue check” did not.

Everything is cool and normal here at twitter dot com. pic.twitter.com/yu5gxYIq6q

— Eva (@evacide) May 1, 2023

While most accounts lost their blue ticks, Twitter handed them back to some high-profile Twitter accounts like Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey and former President Donald Trump.

The uptake for paid verification was so low that Musk confirmed that he personally paid for some of them to have a blue tick.

I just wrote “former blue check†in my bio and then a blue check appeared next to my name. I deleted it bc it weirded me out but… coding error? Will someone else try this

— ali segel (@OnlineAlison) May 1, 2023

Beyoncé, Harry Kane, Richard Osman and Victoria Beckham were among the celebrities and sports stars to have been given their swoosh back.

The rest of us still have to purchase the Twitter Blue subscription to get the verification checkmark.

While the hack seems to give people their blue checkmarks back, it comes with a catch. As soon as you refresh the app or the webpage, your revived blue tick will disappear again.

The glitch has prompted users to question the social media platform’s leadership and integrity as an app.

Rolling out next month, this platform will allow media publishers to charge users on a per article basis with one click.

This enables users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article.…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2023

Some users speculated that it’s likely that Twitter’s overworked employees did not actually remove the blue ticks but hid them for legacy users who haven’t paid for Twitter Blue.

The bug comes amidst Musk’s announcement that Twitter will let media publishers charge per article starting in May.

Tweeting over the weekend, the billionaire said that Twitter’s forthcoming ‘one-click’ service ‘should be a major win-win for both media orgs & the public’ by allowing media companies to charge a higher per article price to readers who wouldn’t necessarily pay a full subscription rate.

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