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"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 said in a tweet, adding that the price
will be adjusted by "country proportionate to purchasing power
parity."
A blue check mark next to a person's user name on the social
media platform means Twitter has confirmed that the account
belongs to the person or company claiming it. Twitter is
currently free for most users.
Billionaire Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last week.
Since the takeover, he has moved quickly to put his stamp on the
company, firing its previous chief and other top officials.
Twitter's advertising chief, Sarah Personette, tweeted on
Tuesday that she had resigned her post last week, adding further
uncertainty for advertisers.
Musk on Tuesday said subscribers with blue check marks would get
priority in replies, mentions and search and would be able to
post longer videos and audios. They would see half as many ads.
He also offered subscribers a pay wall bypass from "publishers
willing to work with us."
Musk's comments follow media reports that he was looking at the
process of profile verification and how the blue check marks
were given. Twitter used to give these to noteworthy profiles
based on its own criteria.
More than 80% of Twitter users who took part in a recent poll
said they would not pay for the checkmark. Some 10% said they
were willing to pay $5 a month.
Twitter already has a subscription service called Twitter Blue,
which was launched in June last year and offers access to
features such as an option to edit tweets.
Amid speculation that Twitter may soon start charging verified
users a monthly fee of $20 for blue ticks, bestselling author
Stephen King tweeted: "If that gets instituted, I'm gone like
Enron."
Separately, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Twitter to B- on
"significant" debt increase following the acquisition.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by
Sayantani Ghosh in San FranciscoEditing by Anil D'Silva and
Matthew Lewis)
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