As a new revenue-generating strategy, Twitter is now asking businesses to pay $1,000 per month to maintain their gold verification check. The announcement of this policy was made on Thursday night, along with Twitter’s plan to remove “legacy” verified blue checks starting from April 1.
This means that only Twitter Blue subscribers will be verified from next month onwards. Elon Musk has been vocal about his criticism of the way verified checks was granted to public figures, politicians, and journalists and called the system “corrupt.”
According to social media consultant Matt Navarra, who first reported the new charge in February, Twitter employees have been offering the price to businesses looking to sign up as a “Verified Organization.” Alleged screenshots were also shared by Navarra.
According to a report by Navarra, Twitter will soon charge a monthly fee of $1,000 for the gold check, which is currently offered to verified businesses for free. The program, called Verified Organizations, will also charge $50 per month for each affiliated organization. It is unclear when the change will take effect and when businesses that do not pay will lose their gold check.
When the $1,000 per month plan was originally reported last month, Twitter did not respond to a request for comment. However, since then, Musk has changed the company policy for communicating with journalists, which was still in effect when Insider reached out for comment again on Friday.
The new subscription service will be available in over a dozen countries, including the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Twitter’s “About Verified Organizations” page states that the company reserves the right to remove a user’s checkmark or other badging at any time at its sole discretion, including if the user violates Twitter’s Purchaser Terms, Terms of Service, and policies or if their account is suspended.
This new plan is the latest payment option added to Twitter since the relaunch of the Twitter Blue subscription service, which was initially suspended due to the rise of impersonator accounts.
In December, gold checks were introduced as an added layer of distinction between verified businesses and individuals who had just paid $8 for the blue check. In January, Musk also advertised a yet-to-be-released subscription service for Twitter that would allow users to access the site without ads.