Washington, United States

Elon Musk, on Friday, defended his contentious pay model for Twitter, asserting that any social media site that didn't adopt a similar model would fail and be swarmed by bot accounts. Addressing a question-and-answer session on Twitter, Musk said that "the fundamental challenge here is that it's (easy) to create literally 10,000 or 100,000 fake Twitter accounts using just one computer at home and with modern AI (artificial intelligence)." The chief Twit made the statement on the eve of Twitter's April 1 ultimatum for already verified accounts to pay for the cherished blue ticks or lose the status.

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Watch | Gravitas: Twitter boss Elon Musk announces blue tick shake-up

"That's the reason for really pressing hard on verified where the verified requires a number from a reputable phone carrier and a credit card," said Elon Musk adding that his "prediction is that any so-called social media network that doesn't do this will fail."

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Musk's Twitter charges $8 for the paid subscription service known as Twitter Blue. For those buying the service from the Apple app store, it costs $11.

Also read | No to checkmark badges: NYT, LA Times, Politico, and other major news outlets reject Twitter's blue tick

As per AFP, the April 1 deadline, and the change in Twitter policies, "puts pressure on companies, journalists and celebrities who used Twitter as their main channel of communication and relied on the blue tick for credibility."

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Entities like government officials, charities etc., are also parties to the conundrum.

Also read | Elon Musk now the most followed on Twitter; overtakes Barack Obama, Justin Bieber

According to Axios, the White House, which will maintain its special designation as a government entity on Twitter, has informed staff members that it would not pay for them to maintain the blue tick on their official Twitter profiles.

Media organisations, the New York Times too declared that they will not pay for a verified business account and will only subscribe to the paid blue tick service if required by its journalists for their reporting needs.

Last month, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is launching a subscription service called Meta Verified that will include additional perks and features, including account verification badges for those who pay.  

(With inputs from agencies)

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