Twitter is planning to begin charging for blue verification badges as early as next week, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the plans.
The badges — a scallop-edged round blue icon with a white tick in the center — will be part of a subscription plan that costs $8 monthly, Bloomberg reported. Twitter users who are already verified will have months to start paying for the status or lose it, the news outlet added.
Since Elon Musk finalized his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, he has moved quickly to find ways to generate revenue at the social media platform. The move to charge for blue verification badges – if implemented – would come less a month after Musk’s acquisition.
Other than charging for verification, Twitter is also working on a new feature that will allow content creators to charge viewers for videos, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Some current verified users, including bestselling author Stephen King, have spoken out against Twitter’s plan to charge for the status. But Musk — whose Twitter bio currently reads “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator” — has doubled down on his stance, saying Twitter needs to “pay the bills somehow!”
On Wednesday, Musk tweeted a meme featuring a person grinning at an $8 price tag on a Starbucks coffee, but crying when seeing the same price tag on a Twitter verification badge.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
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Musk also framed the current user verification policy as one that divides “lords & peasants.” He argued that the new system to charge for verification will “destroy the bots,” as a paid account will be suspended if it engages in spam or scam.
On Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the latest to be shut down by Musk for hitting out at Twitter’s planned subscription program. She mocked Musk for being “a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually a $8/mo subscription plan.”
Musk tweeted that he appreciated AOC’s feedback, but she would still have to pay $8 for her verified status.
Other than charging for verification, Twitter also plans to open up its edit function to all Twitter users for free, Bloomberg reported. It’s now available to Twitter Blue users who pay $4.99 a month.
Twitter Blue is only available in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand right now.
Read more: yahoo
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