Musk Details Twitter Subscription Plan

Elon Musk detailed plans to increase Twitter subscription fees alongside introducing a monthly charge for the blue tick used to indicate an account has been verified. The new owner of Twitter used the platform to object to its current free verification system, which BBC News reported was introduced in 2009 to prevent high-profile users from being impersonated.

Musk plans to bundle the verification charge with the cost of its premium Blue subscription service, increasing the monthly fee from $4.99 to $8. The plan faced a backlash from many current verified users due to the ability for anyone to pay for the seal of approval.

Twitter’s former head of global policy communications Nu Wexler told BBC News that paid verification could aggravate disinformation problems, because the blue tick was a means for journalists, academic researchers, and others to filter out wrong or low-quality details. Musk’s move to increase subscription fees aims to shore-up Twitter’s finances, reducing its reliance on advertising at a time when many companies are cutting back due to global economic uncertainties.