Twitter to Allow Media Publishers to Charge Per Article

For some of us it’s already Bluesky(s) ahead, but as that is still in private beta, Twitter continues to try and woo users by introducing new features while working to boost monetization of the platform. Its latest offering is to allow media publishers to charge per article for those who don’t have monthly subscriptions.

“This enables users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article,” Musk posted on Saturday. “Should be a major win-win for both media orgs & the public.”

Musk said the plan, which “will allow media publishers to charge users on a per article basis with one click,” would go into effect sometime in May.

Earlier in April, Musk announced “content creators” worldwide could apply to offer their followers subscription content without Twitter taking a cut for the first 12 months (other charges from platforms such as Android and iOS would still need to be paid). On Friday, Musk announced the platform would take a 10 percent cut on content subscriptions after the first year, as Reuters reports.

The changes come in the wake of controversy over Twitter wrongly labeling some media outlets, including NPR, as “state-affiliated.” The mislabeling of some outlets coincided with the chaotic decision to remove Twitter’s legacy blue checks, which verified legitimate organizations and public figures, in favor of giving blue checks to those who pay $8 a month for Twitter Blue subscriptions. (Last week, many prominently followed Twitter users who were not subscribed to Twitter Blue inexplicably had their blue checks reinstated without their consent).

The “state-affiliated” tag bestowed on NPR was later revised to “government-funded media,” though NPR said both are false and misleading, culminating in the organization announcing on April 12 that it would stop using Twitter across all 52 official Twitter feeds operated by NPR.