'Not confirmed by Twitter': MoS Chandrasekhar on reports of fee for verification badge

Amid speculations that Twitter is mulling about USD 20 per month charge for verification badge, IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said there has been no confirmation from the microblogging platform on the issue, and that any comment can be made only after Twitter's position is known.

"It is not from Twitter, someone has floated that story...it is not confirmed by Twitter. Let them say what they have to say and then we will comment...I can't jump at something that somebody is speculating," the minister said when asked for comments on reports that Twitter is considering charging for the coveted blue tick mark verifying the identity of its users.

The CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc, Elon Musk, on Friday completed his USD 44-billion takeover of Twitter, placing the world's richest man at the helm of one of the most influential social media apps in the world. Incidentally, the microblogging platform has had multiple run-ins with the government in the past.

The government has made it clear that it sees social media companies as a partner in ensuring that the internet is safe and trusted for Indians online.

"We consider this not adversarial at all. We consider this a partnership because our goal is safety and trust...," the minister said.

The government on Friday notified new rules under which it will set up appellate panels to settle grievances that users may have against decisions of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook on hosting contentious content.

The new amendments to IT rule impose a legal obligation on social media companies to take all-out efforts to prevent barred content and misinformation, and the government has made it clear that platforms such as Twitter and Facebook operating in India will have to abide by local laws and constitutional rights of Indian users.