Twitter under Elon Musk

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's X platform is deceiving users with its blue checkmarks for certified accounts, and is also violating EU content rules, Brussels said Friday, in a finding that could lead to hefty fines.

The European Union said Friday that blue checkmarks from Elon Musk's X are deceptive and that the online platform falls short on transparency and accountability requirements, the first charges against a tech company since the bloc's new social media regulations took effect.

The owner of social media platform X Elon Musk has reinstated the profile of American radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after a poll of the site's users supported the move, Reuters reported.

"The people have had their say and it will be done," Musk wrote in a post in response to a query Saturday about whether Jones' account should be reinstated.

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, introduced two new subscription plans on Friday, including a Premium+ tier for users willing to pay for an ad-free experience, according to a page detailing the features of the subscription. Premium+ tier that costs USD 16 per month and offers the "largest reply boost" and removes ads from the For You and Following feeds.

 A year ago Elon Musk purchased X, formerly known as Twitter, taking the platform on a journey that has resulted in lost money, advertisers and trust.

Musk closed the $44 billion deal on Oct. 27, 2022, facing a lawsuit that held him to terms of purchase he was keen to escape.

Social media app TweetDeck has begun going behind a paywall on, with users of platform X, formerly known as Twitter, being diverted to a paid-subscription sign-up page when they tried to access it.

Following several complaints, Elon Musk's "X" sign has been removed from his social media company, formerly known as Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on Monday in the afternoon hours, The Hill reported.

Elon Musk says Twitter is still losing cash because advertising has dropped by half.

In a reply to a tweet offering business advice, Musk tweeted on July 15, "We're still negative cash flow, due to (about a) 50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load."

"Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else," he concluded.

Elon Musk announced on July 1 that Twitter would temporarily restrict how many tweets users could read per day, in a move meant to tamp down on the use of the site's data by artificial intelligence companies.