X removes ability of Premium users to hide blue checkmarks

Social media giant X (formerly known as Twitter) has eliminated the ability of its Premium users to hide their blue checkmarks regardless of whether they paid for it or not.

The popular social media app started alerting scores of its users across the globe on Thursday that “X Premium’s hide your checkmark feature is going away soon.”

Last summer, X made the blue check display optional but it is still not clear why or when the micro-blogging platform intends to eliminate this functionality.

The new guidelines come soon after X gave away free upgrades to Premium for accounts with a large number of verified followers on the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.

According to sources, the new regulation may have been implemented as a result of online impersonators and scammers abusing the tool, which led to some blue checks being the focus of online harassment or mass blocking.

The action was taken just one week after the platform surprised some users by giving away free blue checks to accounts with large numbers of verified followers, regardless of their wishes.