Twitter Verification Chaos: Elon Musk, Government Agencies, and Impersonators

Twitter's removal of blue verification check marks from accounts that don't pay a monthly fee has left public agencies and other organizations scrambling to figure out a way to show they're trustworthy and avoid impersonators. High-profile users who lost their blue checks included Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey, and former President Donald Trump. Twitter is now offering gold checks for "verified organizations" and gray checks for government organizations and their affiliates, but it was not always clear why some accounts had them Friday and others did not.