Elon Musk says $8 monthly fee for Twitter blue tick
Elon Musk has said Twitter will charge $8 (£7) monthly to Twitter users who want a blue tick by their name indicating a verified account.
As part of changes after a $44bn (£38bn) takeover of the social media site, Mr Musk said it was “essential to defeat spam/scam”.
A blue tick mark next to a username – normally for high-profile figures – is currently free.
The move could make it harder to identify reliable sources, say critics.
Mr Musk, the world’s richest person, added that paid users would have priority in replies and searches, and half as many advertisements.
“Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” the billionaire said on Twitter, criticising the old method of blue tick verification as a “lords and peasants system”.
The company introduced the system in 2009, after it faced a lawsuit accusing it of not doing enough to prevent imposter accounts.
But Mr Musk is facing a hefty challenge as he works to overhaul Twitter’s business, which has not posted a profit in years.
He has said he wants to reduce Twitter’s reliance on advertising, even as some companies have grown concerned about advertising on the site under his leadership.
General Motors – a rival of Mr Musk’s electric car company Tesla – said last week it was suspending advertising on the site.
Meanwhile, some other major brands have more quietly put a temporary halt to advertising on the platform as they wait to see how Mr Musk’s changes play out, a media buyer for a leading advertising firm said.
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