Twitter plans to charge fee for Blue checkmark

• Twitter is planning to charge $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue subscription.
• Under the current plan, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe or lose their checkmark.
• Employees working on the project were told on Sunday that they need to meet a deadline of November 7.

KARACHI: Twitter is planning to charge $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue subscription. Under the current plan, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue checkmark, The Verge reported.

The directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional, $4.99/month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users.

Employees working on the project were told on Sunday that they need to meet a deadline of November 7, to launch the feature or they will be fired.

Musk has been clear in the months leading up to his acquisition that he wanted to revamp how Twitter verifies accounts and handles bots. “The whole verification process is being revamped right now” Musk tweeted on Sunday.

The Twitter Blue subscription launched widely almost a year ago as a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers and make other tweaks to the app, such as a different colour home screen icon.

The subscription gives users access to new features like customisable app icons, the ability to undo or bookmark tweets, and a “reader mode” to more easily view long threads of posts.

Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter on October 28, firing top executives but providing little clarity over how he will achieve the ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform.

“The bird is freed,” he tweeted after he completed his $44 billion acquisition on Thursday, referencing Twitter’s bird logo in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company have fewer limits on content that can be posted.

The chief executive officer of electric car maker Tesla has, however, also said he wants to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division.

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