Twitter has been informing users verified under the platform's previous rules that they would be stripped of their blue check marks unless they become paid subscribers to Twitter Blue, the company's subscription-based verification system.

It's about "treating everyone equally," CEO Elon Musk tweeted in response to actor William Shatner who was criticizing the company's decision to take away the blue checkmarks from previously verified creators.

"Hey @elonmusk what’s this about blue checks going away unless we pay Twitter?" Shatner asked. "Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free?"

"There shouldn't be a different standard for celebrities [in my opinion]," Musk added.

Twitter announced last week that it would "begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks."

"Any individual person's Twitter account affiliated with a verified organization is automatically verified," the company's CEO announced.

On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLp

Organizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3…

— Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023

Furthermore, in light of the fiasco, Musk announced that only verified accounts would be eligible to be in For You recommendations, claiming it was "the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over."

He also said that voting in polls would require verification.

However, Twitter has a standard for celebrities, including Musk himself, maintaining for months a list of some 35 VIPs whose accounts it monitors and offers increased visibility alongside Elon Musk, Platformer reported, citing company documents that it obtained.

The website reported that the list in question includes NBA all-star LeBron James, conservative commentators Ben Shapiro, democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and US President Joe Biden.

Musk's new measures aimed at increasing profitability come after it was reported that Twitter is worth less than half of what the billionaire paid for it six months ago, as it lost more than $20 billion in value, according to calculations based on a leaked memo from the CEO himself.

In his memo, Musk suggested to Twitter's staff that the social media company is now valued at less than $20bn. He paid $44 billion for it in October 2022.

After Musk's takeover, the company was devalued by half. Several main investors left the company, including the investment firm Fidelity, which downed the value of its stake by 56%.

Twitter's worth is measured based on Musk's offer to stock grants. Stock grants are an opportunity to incentivize employees to buy shares that cannot be sold until a specific set time, as opposed to stock options. 

The aim behind stock grants is to encourage staff to reach a set valuation so that they can sell their shares for cash after a specific period of time. 

The stock grants could be “sold every six months, based on a third party valuation," another separate internal email to Twitter staff said.

Musk's email also mentioned that acrimonious layoffs will come up in the company since they were running out of money. Twitter employees stand at about 2,000 after the job cuts down from 7,500, according to figures Musk put forward in December.