Despite being the most followed athlete on Twitter, Cristiano Ronaldo has lost his blue tick due to changes to the platform’s verification requirements.
Following stints with elite teams Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus, Ronaldo’s popularity has stayed strong. He is the most followed person on Instagram with 578 million followers and on Facebook with 162 million followers.
On Elon Musk’s social media platform, the Portuguese superstar has 108.3 million followers but no longer bears the “legacy verified checkmark,” which was once used to verify the legitimacy of official accounts.
Ronaldo was one of the accounts who lost his blue ticks this week as Twitter implemented new regulations, despite the fact that he is the most popular sports figure on the platform. He is also the sixth(!) most followed account on the platform.
Users can now join up for Twitter Blue, which includes the blue tick and access to additional services including lengthier video uploads and an edit button, for an $8 (£6.46) monthly membership fee.
But after Musk’s $44 billion (£38.1 billion) acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, many people were offended by his business practices and decided not to give in to the entrepreneur’s demands.
Cristiano Ronaldo has LOST his blue tick on Twitter 😱
— iam_charito (@ogu_kc) April 21, 2023
He's the most followed sports star on the platform (108 million followers) and has the sixth-most followed account in the world 🤯 pic.twitter.com/AbabOdZcvR
Why were Cristiano Ronaldo and other famous accounts’ blue ticks removed?
The 38-year-old presently makes £173 million a year playing club football for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, therefore the cost of the monthly membership is unimportant.
Since St. Louis Cardinals manager Anthony La Russa sued the platform over an impostor account in 2009, Twitter has been using verified ticks, previously given to accounts of public interest and later known as “legacy checkmarks,” actively on its platform.
In an effort to establish additional revenue sources outside of advertising, Musk stated in November that Twitter will start charging $8 per month for the badge. Later, the corporation provided check marks in additional colors, including gray for government and international organizations and officials and gold for businesses.
Concerns about an increase in impersonation efforts and a wave of disinformation have arisen as a result of the removal of blue tick marks.
Gary Lineker, the BBC football analyst, has kept his blue tick because he has “been paying it for a while.” In April, he said that the sole reason he was paying the monthly fee was to have access to Twitter’s illusive edit button.
Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City tweeted on Thursday that they had no intention to pay the fee, therefore their ticks are no longer present. Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland have also lost their blue ticks.
Famous personalities such as pop icon Beyonce, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and even the Pope himself have all lost their blue ticks.
LeBron James, an NBA great, and a few select famous users reportedly had their blue ticks bought by Musk personally, which Ronaldo missed out on.
It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo pays up to keep his blue tick. Or whether Musk gives him back his verification.
