Twitter restores ‘blue tick’ free of charge to celebrities in U-turn

Decision to reinstate verified' status without distinguishing paid-for from free users prompts criticism for false advertising'

Twitter has again U-turned over its verification policy, restoring the blue tick" free of charge to celebrity users of the social network.

But the site's decision to reinstate the verified" status without distinguishing between paid-for and free users has led to criticism for false advertising, since the boilerplate disclaimer for those users inaccurately describes their status as being granted because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue".