Twitter began the mass removal of its blue ticks on Thursday, as the symbol previously used to signify a verified account vanished from users.
Accounts of world leaders, celebrities have been hit by the development.
Pope, Donald Trump and Justin Bieber have lost their blue badge.
Owner Elon Musk, who invested $44 billion in buying Twitter earlier pledged to get rid of what he described as a “lords & peasants system.”
He offered instead to sell the blue badge to anyone who would pay $8 a month, in a move he said last year would “democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people.”
Earlier dates set for the rollback of the ticks — predominately used by celebrities, journalists and politicians — have slipped by without noticeable action.
But on Thursday high-profile accounts, as well as those of many reporters at AFP and other news organizations, appeared to have had the checkmarks removed.
