Elon Musk has sparked mass confusion by removing and then reinstating Twitter's blue tick verification for celebrities free of charge within a chaotic three-day window.
Musk had previously flagged an end to the practice of handing out blue ticks free of charge to high profile users after he acquired the platform in October last year.
Nonetheless, the company pushed ahead with the service and officially begun retiring"legacy" checkmarks on April 20. However, as users struggled to navigate a flurry of fake accounts taking advantage of the change another strange twist emerged with a number of accounts belonging to deceased celebrities apparently signing up to receive verification via Twitter Blue.
In some cases, the accounts had been taken over by new administrators following the death of the celebrity making it possible the new service had been purchased to retain a tick, but others, such as that belonging to American chef Anthony Bourdain, had been inactive for years.
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