Elon Musk suggests $8 monthly fee for Twitter blue tick

WASHINGTON

American tech billionaire Elon Musk suggested Tuesday an $8 per month fee for Twitter’s blue tick.

"Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month," Musk wrote on the platform which he now owns.

He said the price has been "adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity.”

Users will get priority in replies, mentions and searches, which he said is essential to defeating spam and scams. Tick owners will also have the ability to post long videos and audio and will see half as many ads.

It will also have a “paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us," he tweeted.

Musk initially faced criticism for his plan to charge users $19.99 a month to get or keep a verified account.

His takeover of Twitter has ignited a firestorm of debate regarding free speech versus online harm, with Musk previously criticizing Twitter’s moderation policies and accusing the platform of being biased toward left-wing views.

Musk has not yet detailed the exact plans for his vision of Twitter but he is widely expected to ease moderation rules as well as slash the company's staff.