Twitter exempts top accounts from new fees

Twitter will start removing blue checkmarks from "legacy" accounts and charging individual users $8 a month and businesses up to $1,000 monthly for verification. However, the fee will be waived for Twitter's 500 largest advertisers and the 10,000 most-followed businesses, brands, and organizations, including Twitter itself. This move has raised concerns about fairness and Twitter's relationship with its corporate sponsors. Some high-profile users have already indicated they won't pay for verification, and it remains to be seen how many power users will be willing to do so.