Twitter updated its app on Saturday and now charges $8 a month to use the coveted white tick on a blue verification badge. Until now, the symbols with the check mark, which guarantee the authenticity of the Twitter profile, were assigned free of charge. Above all, the accounts of celebrities, companies, and users with many followers, such as politicians or journalists, were marked with it.
In its update for Apple devices, Twitter said anyone who signs up for the new service “now” will get the blue tick next to their username, “just like the celebrities, businesses, and politicians you already follow.” Other benefits of the update include “half the ads,” the ability to post longer videos on Twitter, and better placement for high-quality content.
It’s the first major overhaul of the social media platform by Elon Musk since he took over Twitter. The new verified service is initially rolling out in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. “Once we know it’s working well in the first few countries and we’ve completed the translation work, it will be rolled out globally,” Musk said in a tweet on Saturday.
UN urges Twitter to respect human rights
UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk has meanwhile called on the new Twitter boss Elon Musk to ensure that human rights are respected in the online network. From his point of view, it was “not an encouraging start” that Musk reportedly fired the entire human rights team of the short message service shortly after the Twitter takeover, Türk wrote on Saturday in an open letter to the multi-billionaire published on Twitter.
He was “concerned about our digital public space and Twitter’s role there,” Türk continued. Like all companies, Twitter must be aware of the damage that could be caused on the digital platform and take appropriate action. “Respect for our common human rights should be the guidelines for the use and development of the platform,” stressed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. “In short, I urge you to ensure that human rights are critical to Twitter management under your leadership.”
Musk laid off half the workforce
A week after being taken over by multi-billionaire Elon Musk, Twitter laid off around half of its 7,500 employees on Friday. Musk had already fired Twitter management immediately after the takeover. Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion at the end of October.
Politicians and civil rights activists fear that Musk could open the short message service to uncontrolled hate mail and false information and unblock previously blocked user accounts such as that of former US President Donald Trump.