White House won’t pay for staffers’ Twitter Blue verification

The White House won’t be subscribing to Twitter Blue, telling staffers in an email on Friday that they’ll have to pay out-of-pocket if they want to keep their blue checkmarks.

Twitter plans to wind down its legacy verified program on Saturday, removing blue checkmarks from accounts that don’t sign up for its $8 per month Twitter Blue service – a change announced after new owner Elon Musk took over the company.

“It is our understanding that Twitter Blue does not provide person-level verification as a service,” White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty informed staffers via email, according to Axios.

“Thus, a blue check mark will now simply serve as a verification that the account is a paid user,” Flaherty continued.

“Staff may purchase Twitter Blue on their personal social media accounts using personal funds,” he added.

The White House will join the likes of NBA superstar Lebron James and Super Bowl-winning NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who have said they won’t pay the monthly fee to continue being verified.  

News outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times have also reportedly told employees that they won’t pay for Twitter Blue.

Flaherty noted that the White House will monitor Twitter’s Verification for Organization service but “will not enroll in it.” 

The White House official also warned that part of the fallout from Twitter Blue may be the creation of fake accounts purportedly belonging to Biden administration staffers and he asked staff to report impersonations.