SOCIAL MEDIA:

Elon Musk (main picture) has unveiled more changes he plans to implement to Twitter in a bid to address its losses and repay the billions of dollars he borrowed to buy the global social media platform.

Mr Musk said he could assure Twitter users that his overriding aim would be to maintain his “unshakeable commitment” to free speech on the platform.

“I plan to implement a tiered system of ‘verified’ accounts based on the number of followers a user has,” he said.

“For instance major celebrities with lots of followers will pay a high monthly rate to be verified and enjoy free speech compared with middle-ranking celebrities who’ll be charged a lower rate yet to be determined.

“Average Joes with few followers will also pay, but not quite as much as other more interesting users.

“If people don’t like it they can fuck off and pay for their free speech somewhere else.”

Mr Musk said he would also implement a system of “free speech licences” in a bid to control the type of language used in Twitter posts and conversations.

“For instance I have been examining the propensity for many Twitter account holders to use the N-word,” he said.

“It’s something I’ve been concerned about for some time because it’s an obvious revenue source that the former Twitter owners were ignoring.

“So I’ll be implementing a free-speech licensing system under which users can pay to use the N-word without repercussions.”

Mr Musk confirmed he would ask all Twitter users whether he should readmit former US President Donald Trump as a Twitter account holder.

“But I want the process for his to be a textbook exercise in free speech,” he said. “So I’ll be staging an online ballot via Twitter to give all account holders a chance to vote for or against Donald Trump’s readmission.

“It’ll cost 100 bucks to cast a vote and in the interest of free speech I won’t be limiting the number of times users can buy a vote,” he said.