News reports suggest that following Twitter, Meta too is on its way to introducing verification pricing for its social media platforms in certain countries — Australia and New Zealand to be particular. Indications are that the project, Meta Verified, will likely be introduced in other countries as well. Evidently, Elon Musk’s decision to price the verification badge has opened the floodgates for other players as well. While, in principle, the verification badges for Twitter and other platforms will continue to be an open proposition for all classes of individuals, in practice, they will elude many users on account of their high prices. Taking the particular case of Twitter, the 'price privilege' is not just limited to the blue tick or the verification badge. It will also allow the users to access additional features like editing a tweet, posting longer videos, organising bookmarks, customising the app icon etc. This leaves no doubt that the long-cherished notion of universal, equitable access to the microblogging website now stands diluted. One may argue that from a market perspective, Twitter should have a choice to explore revenue options. Analogies are also being drawn with OTT and other platforms that allow access to hierarchical features on differential prices. However, a line of distinction has to be drawn here. Twitter and Meta platforms, by the nature of their engagement with people, have consolidated themselves as a public good. It is for a reason that Twitter has come to be recognised as the global noticeboard. Furthermore, Twitter and Meta platforms, as intermediaries, facilitate public discourse rather than providing a body of content themselves, like films, documentaries and series. These virtual public platforms have, to a great extent, shaped themselves as facilitators of free speech and expression. By privileging a certain section of society, the price verification badges, by default, limit the capabilities of the remaining sections — amounting to unequal access. It may, however, be worth contemplating the motivating factor behind these initiatives. Elon Musk appears to be embarking upon the pricing mechanism under a twofold vision. First, he is looking forward to turning the loss-making Twitter into a profitable entity by exploring new revenue options. Musk didn’t have much choice as his USD 44 billion Twitter takeover was followed by a massive curtailment of manpower. Second, he aims to cleanse the Twitter ecosystem. The priced blue tick appears to be partly aimed at disincentivizing the impersonation of public profiles. Morally, it defies all logic that Twitter, while aiming to restrict ‘poor’ impersonators through the price disincentive, is okay with ‘rich’ impersonators who could pay the price. However, it needs to be admitted that the move will practically place a curb on impersonation because non-public figures still don’t have enough incentive to pay 3-4 times more than what they pay for their favourite streaming platforms. At the same time, Twitter is making its verification pricing more attractive and worthwhile by adding new entries to its subscription bundle. Consider for instance Twitter’s decision to limit access to its text message two-factor authentication (2FA) service to verified users. The change will be applicable from March 20 this year. By then non-verified users are asked to opt out of the feature if they are already using it. It must be cleared that they’ll still have other options to secure their account. Furthermore, Twitter is planning to restrict the access to Application Programming Interface (API) to those paying USD 100 per month. This move, once again, is aimed at cleaning the Twitter ecosystem. Musk highlighted that the “API is being abused badly right now by bot scammers & opinion manipulators”, adding that those willing to do ‘bad things’ must be ready to pay the price. He is confident that USD 100 per month for API access with ID verification will clean things up greatly. While it remains to be seen how the verification pricing will boost Twitter’s revenues, it has certainly created an ecosystem that is averse to equitable access. The claim of cleaning the Twitter interface will also be tested on the anvil of time.