Musk says Twitter Basic Blue to slash ads by half

Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted on Monday (Dec 12) that Twitter's Basic blue tick will have half the number of advertisements and the social media platform will offer a higher tier with no advertisements by next year.

Musk did not elaborate further on the details.

The company re-enabled the Twitter Blue sign earlier in the day, after announcing last week that accounts for individuals will get a blue check, while gold and gray check marks will denote business and government accounts.

The monthly subscription price will be $8 on the web and $11 on Apple devices, respectively.

Twitter earns nearly 90 per cent of its revenue from selling digital ads and Musk recently attributed a "massive drop in revenue" to civil rights organizations that have pressured brands to pause their Twitter ads.