Pope loses Twitter Verified status, among others

STORY: Major changes have come at Twitter this week.

The social media site began removing legacy blue checkmarks from user profiles on Thursday (April 20).

It meant famous faces like pop star Beyonce and Pope Francis lost their verified status.

It is the latest change brought in by Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year.

The site's once coveted Blue checkmarks were previously given to noted individuals, journalists and more to verify their identities, and it served as a mark of authenticity.

But Musk said Twitter would start charging $8 per month for the badge to launch new revenue streams.

There was confusion, though, as basketball star LeBron James and author Stephen King still had their checkmarks.

King had previously criticized Musk's ownership of Twitter.

He Tweeted he had not paid for a Twitter Blue subscription, and it was reported James had not spent the money either.

But Musk Tweeted he was paying for a few personally, and later said he had paid for the actor William Shatner, James and King.

In yet another big change, Twitter also dropped its 'Government-funded media' tag.

The label implied government involvement in editorial content on some accounts., including Britain’s BBC, Canada's CBC and U.S.-based NPR.

Both NPR and CBC paused their activities on the platform after they were given the tag.

Each argued the label did not accurately capture their governance structure.