Elon Musk Says Twitter May Charge A 'Slight Cost' For Commercial, Govt Users

Musk had bought Twitter last month for $44 billion.

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk said on Wednesday, 4 May, that while Twitter would always be free for casual users, it may charge a small fee for commercial and government users.

"Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users," Musk said in a late night tweet on Wednesday.

Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2022

Several people took to Twitter to slam his decision.

So much for the “Free Speech” you were claiming to defend

— AliceWondersAtItAll (@alivealice9) May 4, 2022

That’s it, that seals the deal. I’m no longer a Twitter user. I’ve been a user since 2008 and have never been more disgusted. I officially will be deactivating my account. I’m going to MySpace where they know how to run a platform.

— Ricky Berwick (@rickyberwick) May 3, 2022

So it's all about money. Ok well I was planning on buying an electric car. No way in hell will I buy a Tesla.

— downhillfromhere (@Mariofupadboard) May 3, 2022

The Tesla CEO has also spoken about several changes he wants to bring to Twitter, like adding new features, making algorithms open source to increase trust, authenticating all human beings and defeating spam bots.

At the Met Gala held in New York on Monday, Musk had said that he aimed to make the social media giant transparent with regard to how tweets are promoted or demoted. He also said that he wanted Twitter's software to be publicly available for analysis and critique, as per Reuters.

Musk had stuck a deal to fully acquire Twitter for $44 billion last month, and pledged to take it into the private sphere.

(With inputs from Reuters.)