So, as @chancerydaily points out, legacy blue checks who don't want the blue checks are currently stuck with the blue checks and Musk is implying they may be paying.

And the only way to hide the blue check is if you actually do pay, where you will soon get an option to hide the fact that you pay.

This truly is the dumbest timeline.

@mmasnick @chancerydaily It's surprisingly brilliant. Sure, Musk is devaluing the blue check and killing the verification which attracted both creators and readers alike.

But now he's protecting his subscribers from being blocked en masse, and effectively extorting actual notables into paying to remove the mark of chumps.