X (formerly Twitter) users with 2,500 or more followers will be given verified status, owner Elon Musk has confirmed in his latest change to the microblogging site.
Having taken over the platform in October 2022, the Tesla and SpaceX boss wasted no time putting the previously free blue tick status behind a paywall.
Users have since had to pay £9.60 a month to access premium features such as the ability to write longer posts, edit posts, and browse ad-free.
Going forward, all 𝕏 accounts with over 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5000 will get Premium+ for free
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 28, 2024
An additional Premium Plus option allows access to the AI tool Grok for £19.20 per month.
Musk said in a post on X that accounts with more than 5,000 followers will get Premium + free of charge.
“Subscribing is the only way to ensure that major brand advertisers cannot demand censorship of this platform,” he said.
In March 2023, Musk announced the blue ticks would be a paid-for privilege.
In reality, legacy media views went down and this platform went up https://t.co/XIjn5dIPx4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2024
"[It is] the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over,” he said. “It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle."
Musk also hit back at suggestions that declining usage had forced him to change, saying: “In reality, legacy media views went down and this platform went up.”
Despite this claim and his shared data about the seconds spent on X, the app’s daily usage fell to 174 million users in February — down by 15 per cent from 2023.
Musk has introduced several changes during his tenure — not least renaming the site to X. However, some users have complained about increased adverts.
The Standard approached X about this and received an auto-reply saying: “Busy now, back later”. This differs from its previous automated poo emoji response.
Jeff Bezos recently overtook Musk to become the world’s richest man.
