LeBron James joins White House in refusing to pay for Twitter verification
Luke Gentile
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NBA megastar and billionaire LeBron James joined the White House Friday in refusing to pay the $8 required for Twitter’s new verification policy.
Twitter announced last week the company would be terminating its free blue verification check system starting Saturday.
TWITTER TERMINATING FREE BLUE CHECK VERIFICATION SYSTEM
Free blue checks were traditionally awarded to verified accounts belonging to figures of public interest, including officials, journalists, and celebrities, per their request. However, starting April 1, checks will be made available through the subscription service Twitter Blue.
James appears to want no part of the subscription price.
“Welp guess my blue [check] will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5,” the Los Angeles Lakers star tweeted.
The cost for the subscription service is $8 per month, not $5, and it seems to be intended to be used as both a tool to boost Twitter’s revenue and stymie bots and trolls.
James is just the latest national figure to reject Twitter’s new verification system.
The White House announced it would not pay for Twitter verification on Friday.
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“It is our understanding that Twitter Blue does not provide person-level verification as a service,” White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty told staffers in an email.
“Thus, a blue check mark will now simply serve as a verification that the account is a paid user.”