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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Kieren Williams

Twitter Blue 'vanishes' for users across UK and US in fresh blow to Elon Musk's takeover

Twitter Blue has seemingly vanished barely a day after going live, with users no longer able to access it in both the UK and US in the latest blow to Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover.

Billed as the headline feature from the South Africa-born entrepreneur, the £6.99 monthly subscription service seems to have disappeared after being introduced on Thursday.

When iOS users (the feature isn't available on Android yet) click the Twitter Blue option, they are now met by a pop-up warning them it's not currently available and will be again in the future - despite being previously available.

It reads: "Thank you for your interest! Twitter Blue will be available in your country in the future. Please check back later."

The Mirror understands it affects the UK and US currently, and whilst other countries have access to the subscription offer, the service seems plagued with problems.

One user commented 'Twitter just yanked Twitter Blue from a bunch of accounts lmao' (PA)

For some people, the Twitter Blue option has also disappeared from the app altogether it seems.

This is just the latest blow for Musk after his multi-billion pound takeover that has reportedly seen a number of high profile resignations in the days since 3,700 employees were laid off.

People took to the social media platform to comment on the notable absence of Twitter Blue this morning.

"lmao it appears Twitter Blue is ... no longer available in the US," wrote activist Evan Greer.

"Twitter just yanked Twitter Blue from a bunch of accounts lmao," said reporter Ken Klippesntein.

At first it appeared to just affect the US but now users in the UK are being greeted by the warning message too.

If it has been pulled it is a remarkable U-turn by the company after Musk billed this as his big first policy.

In Canada, users have said that the feature is still available, but it greets them with a bizarre list of in-app purchases that includes random usernames.

For each user it seems to greet them with a different list and different prices.

When introduced, Twitter Blue quickly ran into issues as people almost immediately used the feature to impersonate famous individuals and companies including George Bush, Nintendo, and Elon Musk himself.

When Musk first took over the platform he tweeted 'comedy is now legal' but since a deluge of accounts impersonating him he has now said that any account doing a parody must include 'parody' in their name.

Twitter Blue's issues around impersonation also seemingly forced the company to backtrack on its plans to not introduce a separate 'official label'.

Two days ago Twitter support said: "We’re not currently putting an “Official” label on accounts but we are aggressively going after impersonation and deception."

This was after Musk halted their introduction after just hours from their launch, calling it an 'aesthetic nightmare'.

Then this morning, after Twitter Blue had opened the door to people impersonating whoever they wanted with the blue tick subscription, it said: "To combat impersonation, we’ve added an “Official” label to some accounts."

New Twitter boss Elon Musk (AFP via Getty Images)

The platform has been wracked by chaos ever since Musk's takeover with some reports claiming yesterday he gave employees less than a weeks notice before demanding they all return to the office full-time - despite the fact Twitter became a virtual first employee previously.

After a legal battle forcing Musk to complete the $44billion takeover, he has since been forced to find ways to monetise the company.

However, during an all-hands meeting yesterday called at an hours notice, Musk's first as CEO, he reportedly turned up 15 minutes late and told them that the company could 'lose several billion dollars' and that bankruptcy 'isn't out the question'.

The Platformer also reported he said: “If you can physically make it to an office and you don’t show up, resignation accepted.”

Musk's desire to make Twitter more profitable have been harmed a wave of resignations as well with some senior members within the Twitter team reportedly quitting and walking away shortly after he sacked 3,700 people.

There have been reports that John Debay, director of software engineering, Yoel Roth, head of trust and safety, Robin Wheeler, sales vice president, Damien Kieran, chief privacy officer and more have all left since Musk took control.

Regulators in the US have also said they are watching events at Twitter with “deep concern” and warned Musk that no chief executive is “above the law”.

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