It's really happening this time - Twitter announced they will be removing the legacy verified checkmarks from users starting April 20.

On Wednesday, the platform said users who want to remain verified can sign up for Twitter Blue which costs $84 a year and includes extra perks.

Initially, CEO Elon Musk said check marks would be removed on April 1 but the only prominent account to lose a badge was The New York Times.

Musk later posted disparaging remarks about the newspaper, which has aggressively reported on Twitter and on flaws with partially automated driving systems at Tesla, the electric car company, which he also runs.

Twitter has also rolled out a paid Verified Organizations program which costs $1,000 per month for non-profits, government offices and other businesses to receive a gold verification badge.

The controversial decision has many news organizations questioning whether they should remain on the platform.

NPR and PBS left the platform after being labeled “state-affiliated” media.

The labels, which have been applied to several media companies in the U.S. and beyond, take users to a page about government and state-affiliated media, more commonly attributed to organizations like Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua that do not have editorial independence from federal governments.

With its main account having 8.8 million followers, NPR is the biggest media organization to leave the platform since Musk took over. CBS News also paused its activities at one point over “security concerns,” but has since resumed tweeting.

The change represents the end of Twitter's current verification system, which was launched in 2009 to prevent impersonations of high-profile accounts such as celebrities and politicians.

When Musk purchased Twitter in November for $44 billion he said, "widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people."