Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has said that Twitter's coveted USD 8 blue tick subscription service will be relaunched with verification on November 29, days after the microblogging platform temporarily halted it following a surfeit of fake accounts. Before Musk took control of Twitter on October 27, the blue tick was given to celebrities, government heads and other celebrities after their accounts were verified by the site's platform.
The USD 8 subscription fee announced on November 6 was a measure to retain advertisers and generate revenues. The move, however, led to a surge in imposter accounts, forcing Twitter to temporarily halt the service. "Punting relaunch of Blue Verified to November 29th to make sure that it is rock solid," Musk said in a tweet on Tuesday.
With the new release, changing someone's verified name will cause the loss of the blue check "until the name is confirmed by Twitter to meet terms of service", Musk said.
For existing verified account holders on Twitter, Musk said that all unpaid legacy Blue checkmarks will be removed in a few months. Earlier, reports said that legacy verified accounts will not be charged $8.
Last week, Musk indicated that he would relaunch the blue tick subscription service. It marks a chaotic three weeks for Musk ever since he clinched the USD 44 billion deal to acquire Twitter.
Since his takeover, Musk has fired nearly half of the popular microblogging platform's workforce, including its CEO Parag Agrawal and even raised the spectre of the company going bankrupt.