Elon Musk, the new CEO of Twitter, announced on Tuesday that the site will charge $8 per month to verify users’ accounts, arguing that the plan will upend the platform’s “current lords and peasants system” and create a new revenue stream for the company.
The announcement comes just days after the world’s richest man acquired sole control of the social media behemoth in a contentious $44 billion deal.
“People’s power!” “Blue for $8/month,” he tweeted, referring to the platform’s well-known blue checkmark, which indicates a verified, authentic account.
Musk added in the replies to his original tweet that the new plan’s pricing would be adjusted by country “proportionate to purchasing power parity,” and that it would also include “priority” in replying to and searching posts, which he called “essential to defeat spam/scam.”
“There would also be expanded video abilities, fewer ads, and the possibility for users to get a “paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us,” he said.
“This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators,” Musk tweeted.
In addition to providing verification privileges, the new program would take over the existing functions of Twitter Blue, which is currently available for $5 per month and allows users to edit their tweets, among other things.
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO proposed the $8 subscription fee in a tweet response to author Stephen King, who was upset about reports that the verification service could cost $20 per month.
“We need to pay the bills somehow!” Musk responded.
“Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”
The proposal is only one part of a series of sweeping changes implemented by the 51-year-old entrepreneur at Twitter, which saw the entire board, including CEO Parag Agrawal, fired last week.
According to the Washington Post, Musk, whose account bio currently reads “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator,” intends to fire roughly 75% of his new company’s 7,500 employees.
Musk’s previous comments criticizing Twitter’s content moderation policies as “heavy-handed,” as well as his frequent posts of boundary-pushing memes, have given some advertisers pause.
He attempted to assuage fears by stating that the site would not devolve into a “free-for-all hellscape,” and he announced the formation of a content moderation council.
