Twitter CEO, Elon Musk has announced that all Twitter accounts verified for free before he took over the company would have their verification badges removed by April 20, 2023, and will be required to pay for the blue check before they can be verified again.
While announcing the new development through a terse tweet, Musk said, “Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4/20.” The $11-a-month subscription (for Android and iPhone users) gives the subscribers the advantage of seeing fewer ads, aside from getting the blue check.
The billionaire said he was sanitizing the platform through the subscription package. According to him, past account verifications on the platform were corrupt.
Meanwhile, Twitter had earlier announced April 1, 2023, as the day it would start removing the legacy blue checks. “On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue,” the company stated in March via a tweet.
Aside from the global price of $11 a month, Twitter recently announced prices specific to countries, and according to the company, Nigerians that want to subscribe to Twitter Blue will be paying N3,560 per month. However, the company is offering a discount to subscribers that pay for one year of N38,500, which amounts to N3,208 per month.
For Nigerian businesses that want to get the golden verified badge, Twitter said they will have to pay the sum of N460,500 every month. In addition, the organizations will also pay an extra N23,030 monthly for each business or individual affiliated with them to get verified.
While the company had initially rolled out Twitter Blue for individuals, it said the verification for businesses which gives a gold badge becomes available globally Friday, March 31, 2023.