Twitter made an unexpected return to social media, but not under Elon Musk’s X. A startup called Operation Bluebird launched a new platform called Twitter.now, bringing back the familiar name, blue branding, and bird imagery while fighting a legal battle with X over who has the right to use the old trademarks.
The launch comes nearly three years after Twitter was rebranded as X following Elon Musk’s takeover. Operation Bluebird argues that X effectively abandoned key Twitter trademarks when it moved away from its old identity. X, however, has challenged that position in court.
Operation Bluebird is led in part by Stephen Coates, a former Twitter trademark counsel. The startup's argument centres on trademark abandonment. According to the company, X stopped using key elements of the old Twitter identity, including the “Twitter” name, “tweet” terminology, and the blue bird logo, after adopting the X brand. Bluebird believes that this could weaken X’s claim to those trademarks.
The legal dispute is still unresolved. During an April 2026 hearing, US District Judge Colm Connolly reportedly made comments that appeared favorable to some aspects of Bluebird’s argument. However, those comments were preliminary, and there has been no final written ruling declaring that Operation Bluebird owns the Twitter trademarks.
X sought to prevent Operation Bluebird from launching the platform while the trademark dispute continues.
Twitter.now is not simply trying to recreate the old Twitter experience. Operation Bluebird says it wants to build a public conversation platform focused on trust, transparency, and greater user control.
One of its main features is VERA, a real-time verification system designed to assess posts, check claims and provide sources, context and a trust score. Users can then decide how much low-confidence content they want appearing in their feeds.
The platform describes its philosophy as “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach”. The idea is to allow users to express their views while giving them more control over what becomes prominent in their feeds.
However, VERA is still being tested, and automated verification can make mistakes when dealing with satire, breaking news, or complicated claims.
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Twitter.now is initially operating through a paid early-access model. Users can pay USD 20 for Founder access, while a higher ‘Fighter’ tier costing USD 40 or more is available for people who want to support the company’s legal battle.
Operation Bluebird says the paid model is intended in part to keep bots away while generating revenue for platform development. The company has not yet announced a definitive timetable for a free version.
For now, Twitter.now represents something unusual in the technology industry: a new social network attempting to revive one of the internet’s most recognizable brands while simultaneously testing whether that brand was actually abandoned.
Until the court settles the trademark dispute, Twitter.now remains an independent platform using a contested identity, not the return of X’s original Twitter service.