Elon Musk announces $8 monthly fee for verified Twitter accounts | World news

Microblogging platform Twitter owned by new owner Elon Musk has announced an $8 monthly fee for verified Twitter accounts. In a series of tweets on Tuesday night, Musk said that verified accounts will also get “first in replies, mentions and searches, the ability to send long video and audio, and half as many ads”. The users will also have the ability to bypass paywalls for “publishers who want to work with us,” he added.

Currently, verified users on Twitter do not pay anything for their badges.

Previously, Musk had responded to reports of a proposed $20 fee for Twitter’s Blue certification token. In response to a tweet by the author Stephen King who expressed his displeasure over the rumors circulating on the internet, Musk said that “the company needs to pay its bills”.

Social media giant Twitter has a subscription service called ‘Twitter Blue’ – which was launched in June last year. The service currently costs $4.99 per month and offers users access to features such as the option to edit tweets, change the Twitter display and design, including the app icon.

Also read: Elon Musk becomes Twitter CEO; 5 companies now on your watch

Many changes have been made since Musk took over Twitter on Friday after a bitter legal battle with the social media platform. Immediately after taking over, he fired Twitter Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and the company’s legal affairs and policy director Vijaya Gadde.

Meanwhile, on Monday, in the filing Musk revealed that he became the sole director of Twitter as a result of the acquisition, Reuters reported. “The following people, who were directors of Twitter prior to the effective time of the merger, are no longer directors of Twitter: Bret Taylor, Parag Agrawal, Omid Kordestani, David Rosenblatt, Martha Lane Fox, Patrick Pichette, Egon Durban, Fei-Fei Li and Mimi Alemayehou,” he said in the report.

(With inputs from companies)