“Why Twitter’s Posthumous Verified Checks for Celebrities are Controversial”

• Twitter has added verified checks to the accounts of deceased celebrities to promote Twitter Blue subscriptions.
• Kobe Bryant, Anthony Bourdain, Chadwick Boseman and Michael Jackson received a posthumous check.
• Their accounts said they had purchased a subscription to Twitter Blue and verified their phone numbers.

Dead celebrities are the last to befriend Twitter Blue, at least according to the verification badges applied to their profiles.

Kobe Bryant, Norm MacDonald, Anthony Bourdain, Chadwick Boseman and Michael Jackson were among the celebrities who had a posthumous blue check added to their Twitter accounts when the site began removing old checks on Thursday, focusing on showing the checks only to the profiles they pay. for the subscription service.

Although Musk did not mention the accounts of deceased celebrities with the badge online, he seemed to acknowledge reports that he had mocked the leaders of #BlockTheBlue, a viral Twitter campaign to silence Twitter Blue subscribers by blocking them. In a tweet in response to reports that he gave leaders of the anti-Blue Verified movement their own badges, he said books With a laughing emoji: “You troll, me?”

On their profiles, as of Saturday night, the badge clearly indicates that the deceased celebrity signed up for Twitter Blue and verified their phone numbers. While someone who controls celebrity ownership could, in theory, verify celebrities, accounts like Bourdain’s have been dormant in the years since his death, the only change being a blue verified badge.

According to a report before technological Crisis, The relaunch of Twitter Blue, which features perks like an edit button and a new “verified” badge, previously viewed by the public as a celebrity status symbol and now available for anyone to purchase, was “disappointing” as that the social media platform has only made $11 million in mobile subscriptions since Musk brought it back in December.

Twitter Blue, which is available for $8 per month, has attracted quite a few new subscribers since its relaunch, according to Twitter. Dear All By programmer Travis Browne Less than 600,000 accounts pay for the service. And while campaigns have popped up to ban people with paid verification badges from the site, the celebrity endorsements appear to have been an attempt to market the unpopular service, as users had hoped.

However, posthumous Twitter Blue badges may violate laws that protect consumers from false endorsements. in California Civil Code 3344.1Any person who uses the name, voice, signature, or the like of a deceased person, in any manner, for the purpose of advertising or selling products, goods, or services, without the person’s consent, will be liable to pay $750 or the amount of actual damages incurred, whichever is greater.

“Since a blue check indicates that someone is subscribed to Twitter Blue and is paying for a product, adding that to large accounts may constitute a deceptive business practice.” chirpadding: “Anyone receiving this without your consent could have grounds to file a false endorsement claim. That would be separate from the FTC’s investigation into deceptive business practices.”

The press email on Twitter automatically responded with a poop emoji to Insider’s request for comment. Musk did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.