Twitter announced a subscription service for $7.99 per month that includes a blue checkmark now granted only to verified accounts as the new owner Elon Musk works on fixing the platform's verification system ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

In an update for Apple iOS devices available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, Twitter said users who have "subscribed now" to the new "Twitter Blue with Verification" can receive the blue checkmark next to their names "just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow."

But Twitter employee Esther Crawford tweeted on Saturday that "the new blue is not activated yet, as our launch race continues but some people may see us making updates because we are testing changes and pushing them in real-time." Verified accounts do not seem to have lost their checkmarks so far. It was not immediately clear when the subscription would start, and Crawford did not immediately respond to a message asking to clarify the timing. Twitter also did not immediately respond to a message for comment.

Anyone able to get the blue checkmark could lead to confusion and increased misinformation ahead of Tuesday’s elections, but Musk tweeted on Saturday in response to a question about the risk of scammers impersonating verified personal identities – such as politicians and election officials – that "Twitter will suspend the account that tries to impersonate and keep the money!" He said, "If scammers want to do that a million times, that's just a whole bunch of free money." But many fear that the large-scale layoffs, which began on Friday, could ruin content oversight and verification barriers on the social platform used by public agencies, election boards, police departments, and news outlets to keep people reliably informed. This change will end Twitter's current verification system, which was launched in 2009 to prevent impersonation of prominent accounts such as celebrities and politicians. Twitter now has about 423,000 verified accounts, many of them ordinary journalists from around the world verified by the company regardless of their follower count.

Also, experts have raised serious concerns about changing the platform’s verification system, which, while not perfect, has helped Twitter’s 238 million daily users identify whether the accounts they get information from are genuine or not. Currently verified accounts include celebrities, athletes, and influencers, alongside government agencies, politicians worldwide, journalists and news outlets, activists, companies and brands, and Musk himself. Jennifer Greigel, associate professor of communications at Syracuse University and social media expert, said: "He knows the blue checkmark has value, and he is trying to exploit it quickly." "He needs to earn people's trust before he can sell them anything. Why would you buy a car from a dealer you know has basically proven to be chaotic?"

The Twitter update for the iOS app does not mention verification as part of the new blue check system. So far, the update is not available on Android devices. Also, Musk, who said earlier he wants to "verify all humans" on Twitter, announced that public figures will be identified in ways other than the blue check. For now, for example, government officials are identified by text under their names stating they are posting from an official government account.