It does not simply mean "this person is who they say they are" and never has. Everybody knowledgeable about Twitter (including Twitter themselves) who makes this claim is gaslighting. Twitter's own documentation explains that the blue checkmark is reserved for accounts of "public interest". The checkmarks are displayed prominently in the avatar photo of accounts, rather than simply as an element of a user's profile.
Verified Twitter accounts are promoted Twitter accounts. Twitter does the blue checkmark thing as a perk to attract noteworthy people to their platform, and to draw the attention of ordinary users to those noteworthy people.
Verified Twitter accounts are promoted Twitter accounts. Twitter does the blue checkmark thing as a perk to attract noteworthy people to their platform, and to draw the attention of ordinary users to those noteworthy people.