Elon Musk has confirmed rumored plans for Twitter to start charging verified accounts a monthly fee for the “blue check” badge.
Despite outrage from “woke” celebrities over the plans, Musk slammed “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system” while declaring “power to the people.”
In a post on Twitter, Musk suggested that users will be charged $8 per month for the verified badge.
“Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullsh*t,” Musk said.
“Power to the people!
“Blue for $8/month.
“Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity
“You will also get: Priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam. Ability to post long video & audio. Half as many ads.”
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
You will also get:
– Priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam
– Ability to post long video & audio
– Half as many ads— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Musk then followed up by stating that “publishers willing to work with us” will get a “paywall bypass.”
This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
As Slay News previously reported, rumors emerged that Musk was planning to charge blue check accounts $20 a month while keeping Twitter free for everyone else.
The blue verification badge is typically given to celebrities and other public figures to prove the account is authentic and hasn’t been set up by an imposter.
However, the blue checkmark is often mistaken for authority as it creates a hierarchy among users due to the process not being open to everyone.
Musk has long suggested he may change the system so that the blue check mark simply means an account holder has verified their identity, meaning it can be an option for all users.
Several celebrities have been outraged over the rumors, however, and threatened to leave Twitter if they have to pay.
Hollywood leftist Kathy Griffin said:
“I don’t think it’s that blue check people are too cheap to pay 20 bucks a month, I just don’t wanna give any money to Elon musk and the Saudi family.
“I’ll stay until the midterms.
“In the meantime, I’m signing up for all other sites until we can settle on one.”
When asked why not just refuse to pay Elon Musk, Kathy said:
“Well, but then my acct and all blue checks will be cloned etc. Nonstop swarming.
“Having to disavow tweets attributed to me. No thanks. Plus musk is 🤮.”
She later deleted the tweets without explanation.
Stephen King threatened to leave the platform if forced to pay:
“$20 a month to keep my blue check?
“F*ck that, they should pay me.
“If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.”
When a Twitter user told King he could afford to pay $20 a month, he fired back saying: “It ain’t the money, it’s the principle of the thing.”
Musk responded to King: “We need to pay the bills somehow!
“Twitter cannot entirely rely on advertisers.
“How about $8?”
Musk then added: “I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented.
“It is the only way to defeat bots & trolls.”
