He said this while responding to complaints made by users of the platforms that the $ 1,000-a-month subscription fee for businesses is too high.

Musk responded to say the $1,000 charge will be for ‘larger’ organisations.

He said, “We will have a lower cost tier for small businesses but need to manage the onboarding of organisations carefully to prevent fraud. The $1000/month is meant for larger organisations.”

According to Twitter, “Verified Organisation is a new way for organizations and their affiliates to distinguish themselves on Twitter. Rather than relying on Twitter to be the sole arbiter of truth for which accounts should be verified, vetted organizations that sign up for Verified Organizations are in full control of vetting and verifying accounts they’re affiliated with.

It further added that, “Accounts affiliated with the organization will receive an affiliate badge on their profile with the organization’s logo, and will be featured on the organization’s Twitter profile, indicating their affiliation. All organizations are vetted before they can join Verified Organizations.

“We’ve already seen organisations, including sports teams, news organisations, financial firms, Fortune 500 companies, and non-profits join Verified Organizations and list their affiliated accounts publicly on their profiles. And starting from March 31, 2023, verified organisations are available globally. We are now sending email invitations to approved organizations from the waitlist.”

The business verification on the platform which grants a gold badge became accessible across nations on March 31, 2023.

Musk disclosed this via his Twitter account, @Elonmusk, on Tuesday.

He tweeted, “Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4/20.”

Before he took over as the CEO, verified Twitter users do not pay to get verified nor pay for a monthly subscription to renew their verifications.

Earlier, Twitter had announced April 1, 2023, as the date it would begin the removal of all legacy blue checks

“On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue,” the company stated in March via a tweet that was accompanied by links to subscribe to the premium program.

Musk had removed the verification badge of the New York Times, a daily newspaper based in New York City, United States of America, with a worldwide readership reported in 2022 to comprise 740,000 paid print subscribers, and 8.6 million paid digital subscribers.

The New York Times had said it would not subscribe to the Twitter Blue, except where it may be needed for their reporting.

Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company made this known in an emailed statement on Friday, according to Reuters.

“We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.

Meta’s app will be built on a parallel structure that powers Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that was launched in 2016.

The tech mogul engaged in a war of words with the physically challenged designer, Haraldur Thorleifsson, who claimed he was laid off without being informed.

After a series of back and forth with the CEO, Haraldur confirmed to his followers that his employment had been terminated.

Musk doubled down on his attacks and  accused the “independently wealthy” employee, of doing “no actual work”.

“(He) claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm. Can’t say I have a lot of respect for that. But was he fired? No, you can’t be fired if you weren’t working in the first place!” Musk tweeted.

Replying to the remarks, a Twitter user, @danielhoughton, who claimed to have worked with Haraldur defended the creative designer and asked Musk to reconsider his stance.

On Wednesday, Musk revealed that he called Haraldur after seeing Houghton’s comment in order to get to the root of the matter. He further apologised to the ex-employee for how he had handled the issue.

Based on your comment, I just did a video call with Halli to figure out what’s real vs what I was told. It’s a long story. Better to talk to people than communicate via tweet.

“I would like to apologise to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful. He is considering remaining at Twitter,” he wrote.

Haraldur is a physically challenged creative designer who runs a non profit organisation that builds wheelchair ramps in Iceland. He founded a full service creative agency, Ueno, which was acquired by Twitter in 2021.

Musk has come under criticism for massive layoffs shortly after acquiring the company in 2022. The billionaire fired about half of Twitter’s global workforce in November 2022.

He made the clarification while reacting to a claim by a former senior Twitter official that there was no negotiation between the company and Nigeria to rescind its suspension on Twitter.

The attempt to deny what happened between the two parties, according to Mohammed, who addressed at a news conference in Abuja on Monday morning, was absurd.

The Minister said: ” This claim is so ludicrous that one could just have ignored it. But the claim has continued to make the rounds online, hence our decision to clarify things, After all, it is said that if a lie is repeated often enough, people will believe it.

“Without mincing words, let me say that there was a long-drawn negotiation between Nigeria and Twitter, at the instance of the latter, following the suspension of the platform on June 4th 2021 because of its persistent use for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence

“Seven days after the suspension, precisely on June 11th 2021, we received a letter, addressed to Mr. President, from Twitter’s Vice President in charge of Public Policy, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Sinead McSweeney, seeking to meet with us on the Twitter suspension.”That letter kick-started a number of activities that culminated in extensive negotiation.

Musk also said that all verified individual accounts would have the same blue check, but some would be able to show secondary colours, AFP reports.

“Sorry for the delay, we’re tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week,” Musk tweeted.

“Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.”

He said further that others would display “secondary tiny logo showing they belong to an organisation if verified as such by that organisation.”

The American billionaire proposed that users would be able to pay to be “verified” and get a blue badge on their profiles, but this has caused confusion since he acquired the social media giant last month.

According to the report, he also proposed a subscription fee of $8 a month to allow users to obtain the blue check – which was previously free but reserved for organisations and public figures in an attempt to avoid impersonation and misinformation.

The first rollout of Musk’s subscription plan in early November quickly went south, with many accounts paying for the blue check and then impersonating world leaders, celebrities or companies.

Responding to the backlash, Musk initially postponed the launch date to November 29, before delaying it once more. It now appears the feature will launch on December 2.

Musk has said he wants to charge users for subscriptions to the social media platform to diversify its income stream. Twitter currently depends on advertising for 90 per cent of its revenue.

Several major brands have withdrawn from advertising on the platform since Musk bought it, fearing that his promised relaxation of content moderation could open their companies up to being associated with objectionable content.

According to the NGO Media Matters, half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers have announced that they are suspending or “have apparently suspended” their spending on the social network.

Musk also targeted those impersonating others on the platform, as several users who changed their username to variations of “Elon Musk” appeared to have their accounts suspended.

“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” Musk tweeted, adding that pseudonyms were allowed as long as users do not “engage in malicious deception.”

Musk also defended Sunday his much-criticised launch of a paid subscription service to verify user accounts.

“Widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people,” he tweeted, responding to concerns from associations, advertisers, and even the United Nations, who fear a surge of hate speech and misinformation on the network.

Under the new plan, users paying $8 per month for the platform’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, would receive the network’s famous blue checkmark that signals a verified account.

That feature is currently offered only to eligible accounts, such as public figures, an approach Musk described as a “lords & peasants system.”

On iPhones, the social network’s app already mentions the new service but its launch has been postponed to Wednesday, the day after the US midterm elections, according to the New York Times.

“Blue checkmark: Power to the people. Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow,” Twitter detailed in the app updates description.

“Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission,” Musk tweeted Sunday.

But many observers fear the eruption of fake accounts.

Platform user Kyle Grantham said Musk’s new policy would “let anyone (who) gives me money appear to be a legitimate source of news, rather than just ensuring all legitimate sources of news are confirmed to be who they say they are.”

This is part of a premium service that will be rolled out under Elon Musk’s leadership, according to a report.

The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” Musk, who took over as the CEO of the social media platform Friday, October 28, tweeted Sunday, October 30.

The company also plans to raise its optional $4.99-a-month premium subscription called Twitter Blue to $19.99 a month. However, that price is subject to change, The Verge reported, citing internal correspondence and people familiar with the matter.

Twitter will add more features, including verification, to bring its subscription up to par with the cost hike.

Elon Musk plans to make verified users pay money to keep their verified status.

Existing verified users have 90 days to subscribe to the new Twitter Blue after its launch or they’ll lose their blue checkmarks, according to The Verge.

The current Twitter Blue launched about a year ago and offers subscribers a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers as well as additional customization settings.

Musk has been outspoken about his desire to grow subscription numbers to account for half of Twitter’s revenue as well as his eagerness to overhaul the platform’s verification process.

The court also ordered President Muhammadu Buhari-led’s administration “never to repeat it again”.

The court gave the ruling in a suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians, in reaction to the suspension, announced by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in June, 2021.

In its judgment delivered on Thursday, the ECOWAS court declared that it has the jurisdiction to hear the case and that the case was therefore admissible.

The Court also held that the act of suspending the operation of Twitter is unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights both of which Nigeria is a state party.

“The Buhari administration in suspending the operations of Twitter violates the rights of SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians to the enjoyment of freedom of expression, access to information and the media, as well as the right to fair hearing,” the court ruled.

The Court also ordered the Buhari administration to take necessary steps to align its policies and other measures to give effect to the rights and freedoms, and to guarantee a non-repetition of the unlawful ban of Twitter.

Also, the Court ordered the Buhari administration to bear the costs of the proceedings and directed the Deputy Chief Registrar to assess the costs accordingly.

The Nigerian government had announced the ban after a tweet by the President was deleted by the social media platform for violating its policies. It had also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone using the platform with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) also asking all broadcast stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter.

This prompted SERAP and others to sue the government.

Reacting to the judgment, Femi Falana, SAN SERAP lawyer in the suit said, “We commend the ECOWAS Court for the landmark judgment in the case of SERAP v Federal Republic of Nigeria in which the Judges unanimously upheld the human rights of community citizens to freedom of expression, and access to information. Even though the Court had granted an interim order of injunction last year which restrained the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN from prosecuting Nigerians who defied the Twitter ban, SERAP deserves special commendation for pursuing the matter to a logical conclusion.”

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and the full enjoyment of this right is central to achieving individual freedom and to developing democracy. It is not only the cornerstone of democracy, but indispensable to a thriving civil society.”

“With the latest decision of the Court to declare the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria illegal it is hoped that the Heads of State and Governments of the member states of the Economic Community of West African States will henceforth respect and uphold the human right of community to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.”

SERAP 176 concerned Nigerians had in suit No ECW/CCJ/APP/23/21 filed before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, sought: “An order of interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from implementing its suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and subjecting anyone including media houses, broadcast stations using Twitter in Nigeria, to harassment, intimidation, arrest and criminal prosecution, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

The suit, read in part: “if this application is not urgently granted, the Federal Government will continue to arbitrarily suspend Twitter and threaten to impose criminal and other sanctions on Nigerians, telecommunication companies, media houses, broadcast stations and other people using Twitter in Nigeria, the perpetual order sought in this suit might be rendered nugatory.”

“The suspension of Twitter is aimed at intimidating and stopping Nigerians from using Twitter and other social media platforms to assess government policies, expose corruption, and criticize acts of official impunity by the agents of the Federal Government.”

“The free communication of information and ideas about public and political issues between citizens and elected representatives is essential. This implies a free press and other media able to comment on public issues without censor or restraints, and to inform public opinion. The public also has a corresponding right to receive media output.”

“The arbitrary action by the Federal Government and its agents have negatively impacted millions of Nigerians who carry on their daily businesses and operational activities on Twitter. The suspension has also impeded the freedom of expression of millions of Nigerians, who criticize and influence government policies through the microblogging app.”

“The suspension of Twitter is arbitrary, and there is no law in Nigeria today permitting the prosecution of people simply for peacefully exercising their human rights through Twitter and other social media platforms.”

“The suspension and threat of prosecution by the Federal Government constitute a fundamental breach of the country’s international human rights obligations including under Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.”

“The suspension has seriously undermined the ability of Nigerians and other people in the country to freely express themselves in a democracy, and undermined the ability of journalists, media houses, broadcast stations, and other people to freely carry out their professional duties.”

“A lot of Nigerians at home and abroad rely on Twitter coverage of topical issues of public interest to access impartial, objective and critical information about ideas and views on how the Nigerian government is performing its constitutional and international human rights obligations.”

“The implication of the decline in freedom of expression in Nigeria is that the country is today ranked alongside countries hostile to human rights and media freedom such as Afghanistan, Chad, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe and Colombia.”

On Tuesday, July 12, Twitter filed the suit in Delaware chancery court to seek a ruling that would order Musk to complete the merger at the agreed price of $54.20 per Twitter share, according to a court filing.

Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its shareholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests,’ the lawsuit states.

Last Friday, Musk said he was terminating the deal because Twitter violated the agreement by failing to respond to requests for information regarding fake or spam accounts on the platform, which is fundamental to its business performance.

The billionaire appeared to respond to the suit in a tweet on Tuesday evening, writing: ‘Oh the irony lol.’

Twitter’s lawsuit argues: ‘Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, Musk apparently believes that he – unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law – is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.’

Twitter’s General Counsel Sean Edgett informed staff of the lawsuit in a company-wide memo on Tuesday afternoon.

We have also filed a motion for an expedited trial alongside the complaint, asking for the case to be heard in September, as it is critically important for this matter to be resolved quickly,’ Edgett wrote in the memo, according to the New York Times.

At this point we anticipate the next step in the process will be for the court to set a schedule for the case,’ he added.

The lawsuit was a widely anticipated step after Musk last week announced his intent to pull out of the April 25 merger agreement, which specified penalties for backing out of the deal.

Those penalties included a $1 billion breakup fee, as well as the ability for the parties to enforce the contract in court, which Twitter officials had previously vowed to do.

Musk argues that Twitter has broken its contractual obligations by failing to disclose key information about fake accounts on the platform.

Twitter’s lawsuit will be heard in Delaware chancery court, as both Twitter and the company Musk is using to complete the merger are officially incorporated in Delaware.

The lawsuit accused Musk of ‘a long list’ of violations of the merger agreement that ‘have cast a pall over Twitter and its business.’

Shares of the social media platform closed at $34.06 on Tuesday, sharply below the levels above $50 where it traded when the deal was accepted by Twitter’s board in late April.

Musk said he was terminating the merger because of the lack of information about spam accounts and inaccurate representations that he said amounted to a ‘material adverse event.’He also said executive departures amounted to a failure to conduct business in the ordinary course, as Twitter was obligated to do.

Twitter said it negotiated to remove from the merger agreement language that would have made such firings a violation of ordinary course requirement.

Twitter called the reasons cited by Musk a ‘pretext’ that lacked merit and said his decision to walk away had more to do with a decline in the stock market, particularly for tech stocks.

Musk has continued to launch many attacks at Twitter by tweeting a series of memes mocking the company for attempting to enforce the agreement.