Elon Musk said on Monday that only verified Twitter accounts would be eligible to vote in polls starting April 15, a move that the social media company’s CEO believes will address advanced AI bot swarms taking over.
The Twitter CEO also noted that only verified accounts would be eligible to be in Twitter’s “For You’ recommendations, which display a stream of tweets from accounts on Twitter for each user.
Recall that last year, Musk had said Twitter would restrict voting on policy-related polls to paying Twitter Blue subscribers.
More features for blue subscribers
The exclusive eligibility to vote in Twitter polls becomes the latest feature among the rollout of the feature the microblogging platform has been introducing to the paid subscription since last year, including the blue verification mark, longer video uploads, and priority ranking in conversation replies. the ability to edit an already-seen tweet plus custom icons and themes.
Earlier in December, Musk added that Twitter’s basic blue tick would have half the number of advertisements, and the social media platform would offer a higher tier with no advertisements by next year.
Also, about a month ago, the platform announced that paid users can now post longer tweets of up to 4000 words. The adjustment also applies to replies and quoted tweets. Twitter said that along with the increased number of characters comes the ability to post media like images and videos.
Musk’s latest act of ‘classism’
The new introduction by Musk might be a clear contradiction to what Twitter has always been known for, which is a free-for-all opinion platform without discrimination.
In fact, in describing the platform before the purported purchase last year, Musk had claimed that the platform, which was much like a “de facto public town square”, ought to adhere to free speech principles and not undermine democracy.
In citing one of the major reasons for wanting to take the platform private, the serial entrepreneur said the social media company needs to go private because it can “neither thrive nor serve” free speech in its current state.
It all seems Musk’s drive to creating to classism is non-stop at the moment. In an avalanche of an attempt to make the platform profitable, the billionaire might have swamped the platform with policies and changes that has classism tendencies.
Read also: Twitter to remove all ‘Legacy’ blue checks on April 1
Days ago, the platform announced that it would remove the “legacy” blue checkmark badges from verified accounts on April 1. Any accounts verified under the old system will no longer have the blue checkmark badge on their profiles unless they subscribe to Twitter Blue.
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