ORLANDO, Fla. — Twitter has launched a subscription service for $8 a month that includes a blue checkmark now given to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk overhauls the platform’s verification system.
In an update to Apple iOS devices Saturday, Twitter said users who “sign up now” can receive the blue checkmark next to their names “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.”
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The change represents the end of Twitter’s current verification system, which was launched in 2009 to prevent impersonations of high-profile accounts such as celebrities and politicians.
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Twitter before the overhaul had about 423,000 verified accounts, many of them rank-and-file journalists from around the globe that the company verified regardless of how many followers they had.
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