Voice of Rahul Gandhi silenced by Twitter? No more blue tick for ‘poor’ Indian leaders

On Thursday, Twitter eliminated the “blue tick” verification badge for all users who have not subscribed to the platform’s paid service, which costs around ₹650 per month on the web and ₹900 on the mobile app in India.

Following the implementation of this subscription-based policy, many high-profile individuals in India, including numerous renowned celebrities and most chief ministers, lost their blue checkmark. However, many blue ticks for the BJP and the PM were left untouched though the party has lost its blue tick. 

Political figures such as Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee as well as official Twitter handles of political parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Congress, were among those who lost their verified status on the platform.

In the past, Twitter had granted these badges to high-profile individuals, journalists, executives, politicians, and establishments after verifying their identities to symbolize their authenticity. Since being taken over by Elon Musk, Twitter has made significant changes in its verification process.

No political leaders, no officials, no public voices, no journalists and not even fact checkers were spared from the Twitter’s pay-for-tick policy, irrespective of authencity. Unlike China where Twitter is officially blocked, India has kept an open policy on social media platforms and even tried to promote the rival “Koo” to compete with Twitter unsuccessfully.

The number of twitter accounts in India amount to nearly 2.4 crore as of 2022. 

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