LeBron James joins White House in refusing to pay for Twitter verification

NBA megastar and billionaire LeBron James has decided not to pay the required $8 fee for Twitter’s new verification policy, making him the latest national figure to do so, following the White House.

The social media platform recently announced that it would be discontinuing its free blue verification check system, which previously enabled verified accounts belonging to high-profile individuals, including celebrities, journalists, and officials, to request a blue checkmark to authenticate their accounts.

However, beginning April 1st, the verification will only be available through a subscription service called Twitter Blue. LeBron James seems to want no part of it.

The Los Angeles Lakers player tweeted, “Welp guess my blue [check] will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5.” While it’s worth noting that the subscription service cost is actually $8 per month, and it’s intended to combat bots and trolls, and to help increase Twitter’s revenue.

White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty also reportedly notified staff in an email that the White House would not pay for Twitter verification. He explained, “It is our understanding that Twitter Blue does not provide a person-level verification as a service. Thus, a blue check mark will now simply serve as a verification that the account is a paid user.”

It is clear that despite Twitter’s efforts to increase revenue and combat bots and trolls, not everyone is on board with the new verification policy.