From laying off employees to charging a fee for blue tick, billionaire Elon Musk rolled out major changes on Twitter ever since he took over as the company’s new CEO.
Musk has been subject to heavy criticism for the changes he made at Twitter. Currently, he is being slammed by many for removing legacy blue checkmarks — the verification badges that were obtained by people under the old system -from the handles of those who have not subscribed to Blue subscription. However, Musk admitted that he is paying for some prominent Twitter accounts to retain their blue ticks. Noted author Stephen King’s blue tick is apparently being sponsored by Musk and seems like he is not happy about it.
In a tweet, Stephen King said the money spent on his verification should be donated to charity amid the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.
“I think Mr. Musk should give my blue check to charity. I recommend the Prytula Foundation, which provides lifesaving services in Ukraine. It’s only USD 8, so perhaps Mr. Musk could add a bit more,” he tweeted.
King’s tweet to Musk came after the latter claimed that he retained his blue check even without subscribing to the platform’s blue check service, which now costs USD 8 per month. “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue,” King said. “I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.”
