'Twitter must investigate...' MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar on $20 fee for 'blue tick'

Twitter is buzzing with reports that users will have to pay a $20 fee for the 'blue tick,' which authenticates the account holder's identity, and failure to pay the fee will result in the status being withdrawn.

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar refuted the reports. As per reports, the minister said, "This, I don't think is correct. This is a test for Twitter. They must investigate how this misunderstanding is being spread on the platform. Such reports, in my opinion, are false."

Following media reports, Elon Musk, the new CEO of Twitter, is preparing to charge users $19.99 (approximately ₹1600) for the latest Twitter Blue subscription, which includes extra features such as editing and undoing tweets.

The current approach would give verified users 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue checkmark. Employees working on the project were told that they must launch the feature by November 7 or face termination.

The report comes a day after Musk tweeted that Twitter will revise its user verification process. However, he provided no information about the charges.

"The entire verification process is currently being revamped," Musk tweeted.

The Twitter Blue subscription became widely available almost a year ago to view ad-free articles from select publishers and make other changes to the app, such as changing the colour of the home screen icon.

Twitter accepted Musk's proposal to buy the social media service and take it private in April.

Musk instantly questioned his intentions to uphold the agreement, asserting that the business had not fully disclosed the quantity of spam and fake users using the service.

Elon Musk, who had previously indicated an interest in acquiring Twitter, abruptly called off the deal in July. The Tesla CEO alleged that by exaggerating the quantity of spam and false bot accounts on its network, Twitter had violated the terms of their mutual purchase agreement.

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