Top afrobeats stars are no longer verified on Twitter after the social media giant pushed through with changes meant to make the company profitable.
The once-coveted blue tick verification badges used to confirm the authenticity of accounts of celebrities, companies and media outlets, but users must now pay $84 a year to subscribe to Twitter Blue. The changes are part of efforts to encourage subscriptions.
Popular Nigerian singers Davido, Burna Boy, Wizkid and Peter Okoye lost their verification badges in Thursday's purge. And they were not the only ones - Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo are also no longer verified on Twitter.
There are now fears of impersonation of prominent personalities, with the only way of confirming their authentic accounts being to check on the number of followers.
Peter Okoye responded on Friday to the removal of the blue tick, saying "Elon Musk is a business man period”.
Afrobeat music, a genre originally from West Africa, has been gaining global appeal, and influenced compositions of artists like Drake and Beyonce.
