Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman… These deceased personalities whose Twitter account displays a blue badge

Died in 1984, Bob Marley nevertheless obtained blue certification from Twitter over the weekend. Like the famous Jamaican musician, several deceased personalities have recently received the famous badge. Until now, these ticks rewarded the notoriety of the account but now, it only means that the person subscribed to the Twitter Blue service. Many celebrities find themselves without a badge, like Donald Trump, Lady Gaga or Beyoncé.

Conversely, Chadwick Boseman, famous for his role as Black Panthers in Marvel films and who died in August 2020, or even former basketball player Kobe Bryant have just obtained it. According to the American magazine Forbes, about fifteen accounts are in this situation. “This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and have verified their phone number”, can we even read by clicking on the badges in question. According to the British daily The Independentit could be a maneuver by Elon Musk, the new boss of Twitter, to massively distribute this blue certification and thus promote the subscription to Twitter Blue.

“What a sad and confusing place this has become”

Other living celebrities have also been awarded the certification, including English comic book writer Neil Gaiman. “For the curious, I’m not a Twitter Blue subscriber. I haven’t given anyone my phone number. What a sad and confusing place this has become,” he wrote on Twitter. On Friday, Elon Musk indicated that he “personally” paid for the Twitter Blue subscription of several personalities including basketball player LeBron James or writer Stephen King. The latter was also annoyed to receive this certification and assured that he had not spent any money to obtain it.

My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t.
My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.

—Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 20, 2023

These blue checkmarks that appeared unexpectedly may also constitute a breach of article 43 of the Lanham law in force across the Atlantic and which notably prohibits “false approval”. A situation that occurs “when a person’s identity is associated with a product or service in such a way that consumers are likely to be misled as to the sponsorship or endorsement of the product or service by that person”.

its ok he fired the people in charge of telling him its illegal https://t.co/9K01oQwP9k

—slave to Woke (@dril) April 22, 2023

For around ten euros per month, the Twitter Blue offer allows, among other things, to correct a tweet already posted, to write messages that can contain up to 4,000 characters or even to halve the number of advertisements on the thread. topical.