Elon Musk Faces Intense Pushback for Blue Check Fees on Twitter
(USNewsMag.com) – Elon Musk, who’s begun a radical shakeup at Twitter after taking control in late October, is now in a new war with left-wing activists and celebrities. Pressure groups are trying to force businesses to stop advertising on the platform. Meanwhile, verified users are complaining about his plan to charge for Twitter’s coveted blue check mark.
On October 31, best-selling author Stephen King complained about rumors Musk planned to charge up to $20 for the blue check, whining, “F*** that, they should pay me,” and threatening to leave Twitter if the plan went ahead. Musk replied the next day, saying, “We need to pay the bills somehow!” and pointing out the platform can’t be completely reliant on advertising revenue. He then asked King, “How about $8?” — then later in the day, announced there would be an $8 fee for verified status and claimed he stole the idea from British comedy legends Monty Python.
Totally stole idea of charging for insults & arguments from Monty Python tbh https://t.co/oFKRyp3BS7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
The move quickly sparked a complaint from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who tried to frame it as a free speech issue (although a standard Twitter account is still free). Musk dismissed her attack, then added, “now pay $8.”
Meanwhile, left-wing groups like StopHateForProfit, which specializes in bullying businesses into pulling ads from media platforms they dislike, are trying to cut off Twitter’s advertising revenue. Twitter is a business, and it has to make money somehow, so if the ad boycott campaign continues, it just gives Musk one more reason to charge users.
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