Is Elon Musk paying for blue checks of notable people on Twitter?

It has been just two days since Twitter ended the legacy verified accounts, shifting the verification to a subscription-based model, but the blue checks have reappeared on some notable accounts on the microblogging site.

After taking over the microblogging site, the now-Twitter CEO Elon Musk had changed the policies and announced that the platform will offer blue checks for $8 to those who subscribe to it.

Days after the announcement, Twitter started the "blue tick purge" from the accounts of those who did not pay the required amount to retain the sign.

As soon as the blue checks started disappearing, the platform had a meme fest on Twitter as Babar Azam, Virat Kohli, Cristiano Ronaldo had lost their legacy.

But interestingly, all three of them have regained blue checks despite not having subscribed to the paid service, and people are wondering what could be the reason behind that.

Not only these sportsmen but various politicians and celebrities in Pakistan and across the globe have got the verification badges back 

PTI leader Senator Faisal Javed Khan's Twitter account was also resorted without him subscribing to the service.

Faisal believes that the restoration might be "eidi" from Musk.   

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman was also among the few people whose account was restored.

After getting the blue badge back, Krugman stated that he won't be paying for the service.

And Musk responded with his usual trolling.

Indian journalist Rana Ayyub was left irritated with the decision.

Many users are left confused whether it was Elon Musk trolling or had thrown in the white flag with regards to its subscription policy.

Interestingly, after the blue ticks were restored by notable people, Musk stated that he was paying for some accounts.

According to Daily Beast, Musk has only restored the blue checks for users that have the highest follower counts, seemingly caving on the $8 subscription issue.

When the Twitter boss launched a subscription model for verified users a movement called “Block The Blue” was launched. Subsequently, Musk restored the blue tick for the users propagating the movement or were critical of the new policy.

This fueled the trolling rumors.

When called out for trolling Musk responded: "A troll, me??"

Musk even offered former US secretary of Labour Robert Reich, one of the people critical of the subscription-based model, to fund his “Blue Badge”.

“I will pay for your blue check – my gift to you,” Musk tweeted in response to a thread in which former Labor Secretary Robert Reich rejected his blue check and denounced the “oligarchs who have too much power over the Internet.”

Even though Musk has offered to pay for Reich’s Twitter subscription, his account was not verified till this report was filed.

Interestingly, Musk has tweeted that he is paying for the Blue Badge of basketball player Lebron James, actor William Shatner and author Stephen King.

King was among the users who had criticised Musk for the verification system. The author had confirmed that his badge was restored despite him not subscribing to the service.

But even after being restored with the badge King was not happy and advised Musk to give his "blue check" as charity to the Ukrainian NGO Prytula Foundation.

In a tweet, Musk told King that he had already donated $100 million to Ukraine and asked the author what he had done.