Twitter aims to start selling blue verification badges for user profiles as soon as next week, part of a plan by new director Elon Musk to fight fake accounts and squeeze revenue from the company he bought for $44 billion (approx. Rs. 3.6 lakh crore).
The Verification badges will be part of an $8 (approx. Rs. 700)-a-month subscription that could go live as early as Monday, according to people familiar with the plans.
Users who already have a blue verification badge will have a multi-month grace period before they will either need to pay for the badge or lose it, said one of the people, who request anonymity discussing plans that aren’t public.
Twitter also plans to expand access to its edit function.
The edit feature, currently available to Twitter Blue users who pay $4.99 (approx. Rs. 400) a month, will be open to the rest of the users for free, one of the people said.
This change could be implement as soon as this week, the person said.
Elon Musk and a close cadre of advisers are considering a host of changes to the way Twitter is run and makes money, and it’s possible that the timing for the subscriptions and edit-button rollout could change, the people said.
The plan to charge for verification has polarize users, with some people who currently have the white check mark inside a light blue field saying they won’t pay to keep it.
Some have publicly tweeted in favour of the new business model, concurring with Elon Musk that it will help weed out “bots” or spam accounts.
Twitter has historically use blue verification badges to identify high-profile users who may be at risk of impersonation, people like journalists, politicians and activists and has never charge for the badge.
Eon Musk called the current setup a “lords and peasants system,” adding that users who pay $8 a month will also get other perks like “half as many ads” and “priority in replies, mentions & search.”
The turnaround for the new products reflects the speed at which Elon Musk wants to move.
One of the company’s product leaders in charge of Twitter Blue, Esther Crawford, tweeted that she slept at the office in an effort to meet her deadlines.
Critics say that giving verified users priority will mean that users who don’t pay will have their posts diminish or silenced.
Twitter will allow government accounts to stay verified, as well as those in regions where Twitter cannot charge payment, one person said.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier that the president and his administration had not yet consider whether it would pay to retain verification.
Elon Musk’s ‘Verification for All’ Ties Up With Indian Govt’s Plan, But Will $8 Price Tag Pass IT Rules Test?
Elon Musk’s announcement that any Twitter user can get a ‘blue tick’ ties up with India’s plans to enable all users to get voluntarily verified on social platforms.
While Elon Musk has specified a $8 monthly price tag, India’s rules do not envision any fee being charged for the same.
Government official Said :
“Under the new IT Rules notified last year, we want social media intermediaries to verify every person who wants to voluntarily apply for it. This would reduce anonymity on the social media platform. However, the rules do not refer to any fee or subscription being charged for it. Other social media platforms (like Facebook, Instagram or Koo) are not charging for verifying users,”.
The official said the government may take a call if users in India, under the IT Rules challenge the $8 fee but, at present, only a close eye is being kept on the changes at Twitter in terms of the user interface.
Elon Musk has said the fee could be “price adjusted by country proportionate to the purchasing power parity”.
Another government official said what Twitter charges for verification is “between the company and the user” and the government does not need to get involve.
According to IT Rules
Section 4 (7) of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, says:
“The significant social media intermediary shall enable users who register for their services from India, or use their services in India, to voluntarily verify their accounts by using any appropriate mechanism, including the active Indian mobile number of such users, and where any user voluntarily verifies their account, such user shall be provided with a demonstrable and visible mark of verification, which shall be visible to all users of the service.”
The rules clearly say a social media intermediary “shall provide” a verified tag to a user who voluntarily verified his or her account using an appropriate mechanism like an active mobile number.
There is no clarity if the intermediary can charge for the service as a one-time fee or a recurring charge.
The IT rules also say the information receive for the purpose of verification shall not be use for any other purpose unless users expressly consent to such use.
What about Other Platforms?
Platforms like Instagram and Facebook do not charge for verification, and Koo had launch a self-verification process in line with the new IT rules.
On 2nd November 2022, Mayank Bidawatka, co-Founder of Koo Said :
“Koo had launched a self-verification process, granting a ’green tick’ to empower every user on Koo to be recognise as a genuine voice. Additionally, the ‘yellow tick’ is given to eminent personalities so that users can find the right eminent personality. All this is done without any charge.”
Mayank Bidawatka also tweeted :
“All the lovely, verified handles here on Twitter, you are welcome to join @kooindia and ping me here on comments for a ‘FREE’ instant verified tick! Don’t pay Rs 650 per month”.
