Twitter has begun the mass removal of its blue ticks, as the symbol previously used to signify a verified account vanishes from high profile users including Cristiano Ronaldo, Pope Francis and Justin Bieber. Owner Elon Musk, who has seen his $44 billion investment in the site shrivel, 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. IMAGES