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A new movement called Block The Blue has emerged on Twitter, where high-profile users are protesting Elon Musk's subscription to Twitter Blue.
The subscription offers a blue verification badge to any paying user, and activists are now blocking Twitter Blue subscribers to protest users who pay for the platform's blue badge.
The #BlockTheBlue hashtag is currently trending on Twitter, with users hunting for accounts with a blue checkmark, indicating they have subscribed to Twitter Blue's monthly payment plan.
According to The Independent, only 28 Twitter users who were both legacy-verified and subscribed to Twitter Blue paid to regain their blue checkmarks in the early hours after legacy-verified accounts began losing their badges.
Meanwhile, some Twitter users have started a "Block the Blue" campaign, where they block accounts that have paid to get verified. However, a dedicated account for the campaign was suspended shortly after the hashtag gained traction.
Previously, blue verification badges were used to indicate that an account had provided information to verify that it was authentic and represented the claimed business or person. However, since Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, the meaning of the blue badge has changed.
In response to the #BlockTheBlue movement, which protests Elon Musk's Twitter Blue subscription service, Musk and Tim Sweeney criticized the "elite-only verification system" on Twitter. Sweeney referred to participants in the movement as "losers and goons."
Many supporters of #BlockTheBlue encouraged others to block verified accounts by scrolling through the replies of Musk's tweets, as the new policy puts verified responses at the top of threads.
Musk faced a similar backlash in November 2021 when he introduced the paid-for verification feature for Twitter Blue, leading to an increase in impersonation accounts and crude jokes for the $8 blue checkmark.
How is #BlockTheBlue identifying verified users?
Starting in March, the blue checkmark on Twitter indicated if an account was either a legacy account or a paying subscriber. However, after the recent change on April 20, only those who paid for the Twitter Blue subscription remain verified, making them an easy target for backlash.
Many Twitter users have criticized those who pay for Twitter Blue, with some calling them "dead-eyed cretins" and accusing them of trying to sell overpriced products.
Twitter user @dril, who has 1.7 million followers, told Mashable that "99% of Twitter Blue guys" fall into this category. It was previously reported that Elon Musk wanted 35 high-profile accounts, including President Joe Biden, LeBron James, and @dril, to have a special promotion to other users.
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