Elon Musk gets called out by Stephen King over blue tick Twitter charges

It’s been reported that Elon Musk is looking to charge verified Twitter users following his $44 billion (£38 billion) takeover.

Nothing has been confirmed as yet, but it looks like Musk is already trying to haggle the cost of keeping the blue ticks following criticism from author Stephen King.

On Sunday, Musk took to Twitter to disclose that the "whole verification process is being revamped”. He did not but did not clarify how or when, but it now looks like he’s already willing to haggle with users.

Resistant users have since turned to the platform to voice their disapproval, and horror writer King is one of them.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The acclaimed writer wrote: “$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.”

Musk replied directly to him and wrote: “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”

He added: “I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls.”

It comes after reports that executives have been discussing the move to make Twitter "verified badges" a paid feature on Twitter Blue, sources told Platformer.

The $4.99 (£4.30) subscription service launched last year gives users access to features such as the ability to bookmark tweets, customisable app icons and a "reader mode" to easily view lengthier tweets. The service is currently only available in the US, Canada Australia, and New Zealand.

Reports suggest that the optional service will jump to $19.99 (£17.31) with the added feature. Twitter would be the first social media app that requires payment for verified status.

According to The Verge, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue tick. Employees working on the project were allegedly told on Sunday (October 30) that if they don't meet the November 7th deadline, they will be fired.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.