Naina Redhu, who claims to be among the first Twitter users in India, joined the platform in 2006 when it was launched. She has seen Twitter evolve into this giant social networking platform and the power it has in today’s world. Elon Musk’s recent takeover of Twitter and the changes that followed will have an impact on the platform, she says. Naina, who has a blue tick, told news agency ANI that the verification fee will affect users, journalists and others.

Redhu joined Twitter when the company was named TWTTR (code name of the Twitter project) in 2006. Her handle has 1,75,000 tweets and 22,000 followers.

"I don't feel there will be any effect because having a blue tick in general is not a necessity. Further, people who need it and can afford will simply buy it and the public will also not be affected. But I do feel people who work independently like in journalism and cannot afford, might be affected."

When asked whether she will pay for the service, Naina said, there is no clarity regarding what the fees will be for India and whether the meaning of the blue tick will remain the same or will it change.

"It's a private company and the reason they started giving the blue tick to users was to verify that it's the real account of a public figure. And if I have not paid for this in the past 16 years then why should I now," she added.

Talking about freedom of expression with regards to Twitter, Naina said that the freedom of expression of a country is not related to Twitter. She feels Twitter has become a platform for people to check what’s happening around the world but with the risk of consuming fake news.

“I think relying on Twitter is not the right way, we should do our own research.” Naina said.

First Published:Nov 8, 2022 11:45 AM IST