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A new controversy has developed in Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter after the accounts of dead celebrities and politicians were given blue check marks.

The Twitter CEO has made a number of changes to the company's verification process following his $44 billion acquisition of the company in October 2022.

Following the takeover, Musk introduced an $8-a-month Twitter Blue subscription service that he claimed would reduce the impact of bots on the website.

Many who had been verified prior to the buyout had "legacy" check marks, although Musk stated these would be removed in the future. On Thursday, April 20, check marks were removed from "legacy" users and several media outlets and personalities bought subscriptions to Twitter Blue.

But several celebrities discovered they had received a Twitter Blue check mark, despite not having subscribed.

The Lord of The Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen stated on Twitter: "Despite the implication, when you click the blue badge that has mysteriously re-appeared beside my name, I am not paying for the 'honour.'"

An unusual development was also uncovered when it was discovered that some celebrities and public figures who had died were also subscribed to Twitter Blue.

Among those who have passed and were found to have Twitter Blue check marks were Brazilian soccer icon Pele, comedian Norm MacDonald and fantasy author Terry Pratchett.

Pratchett's daughter Rhianna Pratchett said in a Saturday, April 22, Twitter post: "Just to be clear @terryandrob has not paid for Twitter Blue. If Mr. Musk is a fan then I suggest a rereading of the books might be in order."

Other dead people with Twitter Blue check marks included chef and TV presenter Anthony Bourdain, Republican Senator John McCain, and actress Kirstie Alley.

In response to Newsweek asking a number of questions including whether family members of dead people were asked about the assignment of the Twitter Blue checkmarks, Twitter sent an email with a "" emoji as an automated response.

Musk's handling of the social media company has been controversial since he took over the platform last year.

The billionaire said in November that Twitter needed to become "by far the most accurate source of information about the world."

Context tabs were introduced for some tweets and would give a deeper explanation of a topic related to the tweet and identify some cases of false information.

But the platform also recently stopped tagging some accounts as "government-funded" media or China or Russia as "state-affiliated" media.

Read more here:

Elon Musk Is Dishing Out Blue Ticks to Dead People - Newsweek