Recently,Elon 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.” King’s tweet on charity did not go down well with Musk. He hit back at the author by announcing his USD 100 million donation to Ukraine and questioned the former’s contribution.’ “I’ve donated USD 100M to Ukraine, how much have you donated?” Musk asked.
Twitter first introduced the blue check mark system in 2009 to help users identify that celebrities, politicians, companies and brands, news organizations and other accounts “of public interest” were genuine and not impostors or parody accounts. The company didn’t previously charge for verification.