Twitter is now offering a new annual plan to pay for its blue checkmark. The tool was originally used to identify verified accounts of important public figures.
Twitter Blue is Elon Musk’s product that charges users for the checkmark. It ruffled some feathers when he first proposed it, but one group welcomed the chance to pay for the checkmark almost immediately: the Taliban.
Muhammad Jalal, who was at one time a Taliban official, offered up praise to Musk on Monday. Jalal tweeted Musk was “making Twitter great again.”
Despite the fact the U.S. considers the Taliban a terrorist organization, and the longest war in U.S. history was against the same group, leaders and low-level members of the Taliban have always loved using the U.S.-based social media platform. The Taliban uses the 21st century tool to spread its message while advocating for the return of ancient and barbaric social customs, like murdering “non-believers.”
Until recently, at least two Taliban officials had Twitter’s blue checkmark next to their names: Hedayatullah Hedayat, the head of the Taliban’s Department for Access to Information, and Abdul Haq Hammad from the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture. Twitter has since removed the marks from each account after mounting public criticism.
Twitter Blue’s base price is $8 per month. Apple users pay $11. Under a new pay scale offered by Musk, customers get a discount if they pay by the year. The price of an annual Twitter Blue subscription is $84. According to Twitter, subscribers to Twitter Blue get priority ranking in search, mentions and replies to help fight spam and bots.
Reuters contributed to this report.
