Twitter blue tick: Arab music megastars Nancy Ajram, Elissa, Ragheb Alama lose status

Some of the Arab world’s most famous musicians lost their blue tick status on Twitter on Thursday, as part of a mass removal of the symbol by Elon Musk's social media platform.

As of Friday morning GMT, Arab musical icons Nancy Ajram, Elissa, and Ragheb Alama were among the millions of Twitter users who lost the blue tick status, which used to signify a verified account.

Twitter owner Elon Musk had earlier pledged to get rid of what he described as a "lords & peasants system".

Users of the platform now have to pay $8 a month for the feature, in a move he said last year would "democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people".

Arab musicians including Assala, Ahlam, and Myriam Fares still had blue ticks by their names as of Friday morning, signifying they had paid for the feature. Some celebrities still had the blue tick, despite not signing up for it.

Other famous faces who have lost the feature include the Pope, Cristiano Ronaldo, Justin Bieber, and Shah Rukh Khan.

Even Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey lost his tick.

Earlier dates set for the rollback of the ticks - predominately used by celebrities, journalists, and politicians - have slipped by without noticeable action.

Musk said in response to a news article about those check marks that he was "paying for a few personally".

In response to another tweet, he said it was only for Star Trek's William Shatner, basketball superstar LeBron James, and author Stephen King.

The horror writer had earlier assured fans he had not signed up for the feature.

"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," he wrote.

"Just so you know."

Musk's tumultuous ownership of Twitter has seen thousands of staff made redundant and advertisers fleeing the platform after paying $44 billion for the site.

Users complain that hate speech and misinformation have proliferated and accounts with extreme views are gaining traction due to less content moderation.

This month, a closely watched forecast said Twitter's income from advertising will fall by a large margin in 2023.

Analysts at Insider Intelligence said they were slashing an earlier worldwide revenue estimate of $4.74 billion by more than a third to $2.98 billion as trust deteriorates.

According to research firm Pathmatics, 14 of the top 30 advertisers on Twitter have stopped advertising on the platform since Musk took charge on 27 October.

Insider Intelligence noted that Musk's efforts to build up a subscription service "won't make up for the lost ad revenue". 

Agencies contributed to this report