Twitter users to pay $20 per month for verification

New Twitter owner Elon Musk is considering charging users $20 (£17.30) a month to have their accounts verified.

The Tesla chief executive – ranked the world’s richest person – completed his $44bn (£37.9bn) takeover on Friday. And just days after being in charge, he’s preparing an overhaul of the social media platform.

The verification is currently free and a way of signalling an account is authentic.

Mr Musk tweeted on Sunday that the process of gaining the prestigious “blue tick” will be revamped but did not give any more details about what exactly might change.

According to tech website The Verge, which cited internal correspondence, the changes are set to be introduced in the Twitter Blue subscription service that gives subscribers access to various premium features including the option to undo a tweet.

It is currently optional and costs $4.99 per month but Musk plans to quadruple the price to $19.99.

Verified users will have a total 90 days to move to Twitter Blue or they will end up losing their checkmark.