Twitter Payments Coming Soon? Elon Musk Hints “Slight Cost” for Business, Government Users

Multi-billionaire Elon Musk announced that Twitter, which he recently bought, could soon charge fees for some users.

In a tweet, Musk said that the social media platform will "always be free for casual users. However, "commercial/government users" might be charged with a "slight cost," according to a report from CNN.

Musk said in a tweet the platform will "always be free for casual users," but there might be a "slight cost for commercial/government users."

Last week, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, agreed to purchase Twitter for $44 billion.

The possible huge announcement comes as a follow-up to a more mysterious tweet he posted on Tuesday, which pointed out that essentially, the Freemasons' downfall happened by "giving away their stonecutting services for nothing."

Musk's proposal that Twitter might start charging some business and government users came as Twitter employees and millions of users waiting for details on how the takeover will affect the site he's now attempting to privatize.

Over the past week, politicians in the United States and Europe have been raising concerns about Musk's acquisition of the 16-year-old social media site.

Musk has noted his plan to improve "free expression" on Twitter, though he has not provided specifics on how he wants to implement it. He also informed his 90 million Twitter followers that he is working to make Twitter Direct Messages end-to-end encrypted.

It's unclear how much Twitter payments would be for businesses and governments, or whether some groups, including non-profits and journalists, will be exempted.

Getting Twitter Back On Top

Twitter has consistently underperformed other social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube in terms of revenue.

Musk, who has 90.7 million Twitter followers, recently stated that he wants to improve the platform further by adding "new features."

Twitter is already testing a paid subscription service called Twitter Blue in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Users may undo tweets and bookmark tweets using the premium service, which costs $2.99 per month in the United States, per CNBC.

Last month, Musk said he wanted to lower the price of Twitter Blue and make improvements to the service, including removing commercials.

Musk has proposed various changes to Twitter in recent tweets, including making the algorithms that curate what users see on the platform "open source," meaning it would be transparent to developers and users, as per a report from The Guardian.

Musk reportedly told banks last week that he would create new ways to monetize tweets and cut executive pay to save costs on the social media platform. He also plans to develop features that will boost business income, like new methods to generate revenues from tweets on important information or go viral.

Business As Usual

Musk claimed at the Met Gala in New York on Monday that Twitter's reach was "niche" and that he wanted a far larger percentage of the American people to be on it. Globally, Twitter has 229 million daily users.

In relation to the takeover, Twitter stated in its most recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that "Until the transaction closes, it is business as usual for us, including with respect to our products."

The company indicated in its filing that it is "always iterating" to make their online platform "the best it can be" for its users.

"When there are changes, we will be sure to communicate as we always have," Twitter said.

Tags

Elon Musk, Twitter, Social media