Twitter to roll out 'expensive' ads-free subscription service soon

Twitter's new boss Elon Musk continues to make changes in the social media platform at a breakneck speed. In a recent development, Musk announced the social media platform will be rolling out a new, but slightly expensive subscription model to curtail advertisements on Twitter. This comes months after he announced the Twitter Blue subscription.

In a tweet on Saturday, Musk said, “Ads are too frequent on Twitter and too big. Taking steps to address both in coming weeks. Also, there will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads.”

Musk, however, has not disclosed the amount that will be charged for the new subscription model. The announcement comes as the social media platform laid off 50% of its workforce of 7,500 employees as a cost-cutting measure in the past few months after he acquired the social media platform in October last year. With many high-profile exits and as several employees mull their future in the social media platform, Musk has refuted reports regarding only 1,300 employee count in the company.

Replying to a tweet, Musk said that around 2,300 active employees are working at the social media platform. "The note is incorrect. There are ~2300 active, working employees at Twitter. There are still hundreds of employees working on trust & safety, along with several thousand contractors. Less than 10 people from my other companies are working at Twitter," he added.

As Musk's listed company's (Tesla) stock faces selling pressure, he became the first person to lose $200 billion from his net worth. In December last year, Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of luxury goods maker LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, pipped Tesla CEO to become the world's richest person.

Ever since his takeover of the social media platform, Musk—who is now looking for a replacement as the CEO—announced a slew of changes such as forming a content moderation council, launching of Twitter Blue subscription and purging spam or bot accounts, amongst others.

The Twitter Blue subscription, which was launched on December 12 last year, was priced at $8 on purchasing the subscription via the website, whereas it's available at $11 per month for iOS users via the Apple app store. The features of the Twitter Blue subscription include an editing option for tweets, uploading 1080p videos, a gold checkmark for official business accounts, and a grey checkmark for government and multilateral accounts, amongst others.

The Twitter Blue subscription has been rolled out in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Ever since Musk acquired Twitter, he has been on a mission to make Twitter the most accurate source of information. In December last year, Twitter also initiated purging spam/scam accounts.