Musk calls Twitter verification system “bullsh—,” announces $8 monthly charge
Enlarge / Musk's Twitter bio now lists him as "Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator." (credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto )
Elon Musk today seemed to confirm a plan to charge Twitter users for account verification, but for $8 instead of the $20 monthly charge he was previously floating. "Twitter's current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month," Musk tweeted today.
That's a reference to Twitter Blue, which currently costs $4.99 a month and provides access to the Undo Tweet option and several other features. On Sunday, The Verge reported that Musk ordered employees to raise the price of Twitter Blue to $19.99 and require anyone with a verified account to subscribe in order to keep their blue verification checkmark.
The Wall Street Journal later reported that it viewed "internal company correspondence" confirming the plan to charge $19.99 and make account verification contingent on subscribing. Accounts that are already verified would reportedly lose their verification status within 90 days if they don't buy a subscription.