According to a report published by CNN, Twitter will wait until the midterm elections are over before launching the $8 subscription plan for blue ticks in accordance with the plans of new owner Elon Musk.

The decision comes a day after Twitter updated its iOS app in which any user can pay a monthly subscription fee to have a blue tick on their profile. on the Apple App Store, it says that any person interested for the blue ticks “just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow” will have to shell out $7.99.

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Musk had earlier claimed that this was the only way in which one can fight spam. The billionaire, who is also the richest man in the world, has been on the receiving end of criticism for the new subscription plan. He has been criticised publicly by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Stephen King, but Musk has not shown any intention of backing out. 

When Ocasio Cortez tweeted out her criticism of the decision, Musk simply said in return, “Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8”.

Some people have also been trying to beat Musk at his own game by impersonating him on Twitter. Comedian Sarah Silverman changed her Twitter profile picture to Musk’s and tweeted, “I am a freedom of speech absolutist and I eat doody for breakfast every day”.

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However, her account was later flagged as “temporarily restricted”, while a warning said, “there has been some unusual activity from this account”. Silverman later changed her account to what it was previously. 

 A similar tactic was applied by Valerie Bertinelli, a television actress, who changed her profile picture to that of Musk’s and tweeted out support for several Democratic candidates in the upcoming elections. 

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While so many notable figures continue Musk’s decision to charge $8 for the blue ticks, the 51-year-old tweeted on November 5, “Trash me all day, but it’ll cost $8”.