Twitter will require phone number verification for a Blue subscription

If you’ve been following the Twitter saga since Musk took over as CEO, you’ll know that things were quite chaotic at HQ. Not only was it the massive purge of Twitter employees, but when Twitter Blue re-launched, it allowed any user to pay $8/month for a verified checkmark next to any profile name. This resulted in abuse where accounts posed as public figures, celebrities, and companies and tweeted from these accounts and prompted Twitter to pull the plug on Blue temporarily.

we’re relaunching @TwitterBlue on Monday – subscribe on web for $8/month or on iOS for $11/month to get access to subscriber-only features, including the blue checkmark 🧵 pic.twitter.com/DvvsLoSO50

— Twitter (@Twitter) December 10, 2022

Over the weekend, Twitter Blue relaunched with the added ability to make Tweets with up to 4,000 characters, replies to Tweets will be prioritized, and users will see half as many ads. Shortly after going live, Twitter’s terms were updated to reflect that a verified phone number is required for Twitter Blue. If you’re not yet a Blue subscriber and haven’t yet verified a phone number, you’ll be prompted to sign verify a number when you proceed to sign up.

Twitter accounts that haven’t been active within the last 30 days or that have changed their profile photo, display name, or username within the previous seven days may also be unable to sign up. Subscribers will also need a verified phone number.

Those who sign up for Twitter Blue will immediately get all the Blue benefits like editing Tweets and longer videos (plus everything mentioned above) but will not see the checkmark right away. Musk confirmed last month that all Blue accounts are going to be manually verified. Twitter Blue will cost $8/month when you subscribe via Web or $11/month when signing up via iOS to account for Apple’s App Store tax.

Source