Elon Musk, the new owner of the microblogging service Twitter, has announced a $8 monthly charge for verified Twitter accounts.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday night, Musk said that the verified accounts will also get “priority in replies, mentions and search, ability to post long video and audio, and half as many ads”. The users would also have the ability to bypass pay walls for “publishers willing to work with us,” he added.
The verified Twitter users do not currently pay anything for their badges.
Musk previously addressed the claims that a $20 fee was being considered for the Twitter Blue authentication badge. Musk had stated that the “company needs to pay its bills” in response to a tweet from author Stephen King, who had voiced his disgust about the online rumours.
Twitter Blue, a subscription service that was introduced in June of last year, is already available from the social media behemoth Twitter. The service now costs $4.99 a month and gives users access to features like the ability to modify tweets and alter Twitter’s interface, including the app icon.
Musk took control of Twitter on Friday after a protracted legal dispute with the social media site. Since then, a number of changes have been made. He dismissed Twitter’s chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and vice president of law and policy Vijaya Gadde as soon as he assumed control.
In the meantime, Musk disclosed in a filing on Monday that the takeover made him sole director of Twitter, according to Reuters.
“The following persons, 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.