Elon Musk on Monday relaunched Twitter Blue, the company’s subscription service that gives users a blue verification check mark. The relaunch of the service comes weeks after the first attempt to introduce the service saw several fake accounts impersonate celebrities and brands on the platform. Twitter will now verify users’ identities before a blue check mark is enabled on their account, according to the company.
Elon Musk relaunched a Twitter subscription service on Monday after a first attempt saw an embarrassing spate of fake accounts that scared advertisers and cast doubt on the site’s future.
The first try last month came just 10 days after Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the platform and a mass round of layoffs that saw company staff levels halved, including teams of workers moderating content.
The relaunch of Twitter Blue in a handful of countries including the United States comes as the Tesla and SpaceX owner has stepped up his tweets endorsing right-wing causes, including opposition to the use of gender neutral pronouns and the US government’s response to COVID-19.
The subscription service costs $8 (roughly Rs 660) per month for users accessing Twitter on the Web and $11 (roughly Rs 900) if signing up on an Apple device.
The initial rollout of Twitter Blue caused an uproar when many fake accounts popped up pretending to be celebrities or companies and Musk’s team was forced to pull the plug on the scheme.
This time, the company beefed up its verification procedure with a review required by Twitter before receiving the coveted blue mark.
A blue checkmark on an account, which indicates it has been verified by Twitter, was previously free but reserved for organizations and public figures in an attempt to avoid impersonation and misinformation.
