Elon Musk relaunches Twitter Blue with higher price for iPhone users - NPR

Twitter office is shown successful San Francisco connected Nov. 4, 2022. Jeff Chiu/AP hide caption

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Jeff Chiu/AP

Twitter office is shown successful San Francisco connected Nov. 4, 2022.

Jeff Chiu/AP

Twitter has restarted a work dubbed Twitter Blue, wherever users tin wage a monthly interest for a bluish checkmark, on with the quality to edit tweets and upload precocious prime video.

Apple users, however, volition beryllium charged more.

The company says the revamped work volition outgo $8 a period connected the web, oregon $11 a period if purchased done an app connected iPhones and iPads, wherever in-app transactions are processed done the company's App Store, which mostly levies a 30% commission.

The terms caller tiers travel sharp words from Musk leveled astatine Apple implicit its alleged "Apple tax," a longtime symptom constituent for app developers and origin of interest for regulators astir the satellite who person viewed the interest arsenic excessive and financially damaging to Apple's rivals. Musk has since claimed his enactment with Apple was resolved pursuing a gathering with the company's main executive, Tim Cook astatine the company's Cupertino headquarters.

Android users tin entree Twitter Blue by purchasing it done a web browser, according to Esther Crawford, manager of merchandise absorption astatine Twitter.

Gold and grey added to bluish arsenic caller checks

The institution announced it volition present a color-coded strategy for people, companies and governments.

Being "verified" volition present really impact a verification process, oregon as Crawford enactment it successful a tweet this past weekend, "a reappraisal measurement earlier applying a bluish checkmark to an relationship arsenic 1 of our caller steps to combat impersonation."

This is an about-face for the company. Twitter's archetypal effort to see the bluish checkmarks arsenic portion of the subscription programme unleashed havoc. Many took vantage of the quality to acquisition a "verification" and flooded the tract with fake accounts. Advertisers, politicians and adjacent Musk himself recovered themselves being impersonated. The chaos forced the billionaire to enactment the work connected intermission aft conscionable 2 days.

Musk present says determination volition beryllium 3 colors for purchase: golden for companies; grey for governments and a bluish cheque for salient individuals, including celebrities.

When Musk archetypal conceived of the program to fto radical bargain the once-coveted and restricted bluish checkmarks, helium was met with interior absorption from Twitter's spot and information experts. They feared the determination would beryllium weaponized by those looking to dispersed disinformation, including repressive regimes hoping to disseminate propaganda.

Musk ignored them. Twitter's Trust and Safety team, similar others astatine the company, has been gutted done layoffs and resignations.

Musk views Twitter Blue arsenic portion of his ngo to marque wealth connected the level successful ways different than advertising, which accounts for astir 90% of Twitter's revenue. But since Musk's chaotic reign began successful precocious October, large advertisers person been fleeing successful droves.

The institution has agelong struggled to turn its work the mode larger competitors similar Facebook, Instagram and TikTok person and, adjacent earlier Musk took over, the company's advertizing concern had been acold from robust.

Musk has floated bankruptcy arsenic a imaginable enactment for Twitter.

Twitter: Users temporarily suffer cheque erstwhile illustration is changed

Musk has said earlier an relationship tin person verification, it volition beryllium manually verified, though helium has not afloat explained however the process would work, but the institution did accidental if a subscriber changes their handle, show name, oregon photo, they volition impermanent suffer their checkmark until the illustration authenticity is confirmed.

Twitter has not answered questions astir whether it inactive has the resources to instrumentality connected specified a daunting task aft laying disconnected much than fractional of the company's staff.

"With a reduced workforce, it remains to beryllium seen if it volition beryllium imaginable to forestall fraud, impersonation and scams with their caller individuality verification methodology," Rachel Tobac, the CEO of the cybersecurity steadfast SocialProof Security, previously told NPR. "Scammers volition rapidly find however they tin overwhelm oregon manipulate the individuality verification strategy to get 'authenticated' arsenic an entity that they are not."

Twitter, which nary longer has a communications staff, did not respond to a petition for comment.