Musk delays Twitter's subscription service until after midterms

Elon Musk’s program to acceptable up a caller subscription work for Twitter — which would see a “blue check” verification for subscribers — volition beryllium delayed until aft the midterm elections, aggregate quality outlets reported Sunday.

Twitter had previewed the caller work Saturday, with a connection connected Apple’s app store offering a caller $7.99 subscription to “Twitter Blue.” But the enactment hasn’t gone unrecorded yet, and it won’t until sometime aft Tuesday’s election, according to the reports. Some of the reports said that the rollout volition beryllium delayed due to the fact that of concerns wrong Twitter that users could wage for a verified relationship and usage that relationship to impersonate idiosyncratic else, specified a person oregon nationalist official.

Musk, the company’s caller owner, himself tweeted connected Sunday: “Going forward, immoderate Twitter handles engaging successful impersonation without intelligibly specifying ‘parody’ volition beryllium permanently suspended.”

Twitter did not respond to requests for comment

After Musk chopped the company’s payroll successful fractional astatine the extremity of past week — firing thousands crossed Twitter — Washington has watched anxiously for signs that the level is losing power of misinformation and content, peculiarly with the predetermination truthful adjacent astatine hand. Musk himself added substance to that occurrence erstwhile helium tweeted a mendacious communicative astir House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hubby past weekend, a determination that drew disapproval and helped thrust advertisers distant from the platform.

The tech billionaire has described himself arsenic a “free code absolutist,” adjacent arsenic he’s tried to reassure tense advertisers and users that the level won’t beryllium inundated with hatred code and malicious contented if it adopts a much freewheeling attack to moderation.

Musk has besides been wide that helium needs to find caller ways for Twitter — a institution that has seldom turned a nett — to marque money. The wide layoffs and the determination to acceptable up a subscription work are each intended to assistance the debt-laden institution get connected much unchangeable fiscal footing.

Although Twitter’s verification programme started good extracurricular of authorities — it was a effect to a fake relationship pretending to beryllium erstwhile shot manager Tony La Russa — the strategy has travel to beryllium seen arsenic a brake connected viral misinformation and an important filter successful the American accusation ecosystem. It has besides travel successful for criticism, often from right-wing populists, who deride “blue-checkists” arsenic a cabal of elites trying to support their status.