Twitter launches Gold Check Mark with relaunch of subscription program, Twitter Blue

Twitter Blue is back — and back to gold.

On Monday, the company launched a new way for business users to get verified with a gold check mark with the latest iteration of Twitter Blue.

This was announced in a Twitter thread on Saturday:

The service will cost $11 to use if the user signs up with an iOS app - Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk has been a vocal critic of Apple's App Store fees - and $8 per months if someone signs up via the web.

Musk didn't acknowledge the launch on Twitter (at press time), but did post a photo of himself next to a grave labeled "bots," and it's unclear if he refers to the relaunch of Twitter Blue or its well-known public hatred of fake accounts on the platform.

This also likely refers to its announcement on Thursday that the company would remove 1.5 million Twitter accounts.

Last month, the company's new management soft-launched Twitter Blue, its pay-per-verification system that would allow anyone to purchase blue check verification for $7.99 a month, but that turned into chaos. The blue checkmark has always been used by celebrities, journalists and other official accounts on the platform, leading users to consider it a trusted source for identity verification.

Related: 'It's gonna be a nightmare': Mark Cuban criticizes Elon Musk's new Twitter verification system

Things quickly went haywire. Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Company saw its stock plummet after an account impersonating the brand tweeted that insulin would be free. An account claiming to be NFL analyst Adam Schefter falsely tweeted that Oakland Raiders top coach Josh McDaniels was fired.

Related: 'Mission Accomplished': Man Suspended After Fooling Thousands With Fake Tesla Twitter Account

And so Musk, the self-proclaimed free speech advocate, was put in the position of having to suspend and ban accounts. Then, in late November, Musk announced that the company was temporarily suspending the program due to widespread impersonation.

What are Twitter's golden checkmarks?

The company said it will now allow businesses to subscribe to Twitter Blue and receive a gold checkmark. Ordinary people who subscribe via the web get blue checkmarks. Governments and other "multilateral accounts" will receive gray ticks, the company wrote.

To help prevent people from impersonating accounts, the company will require users to connect a phone number to the account before they can get a blue tick. If they wish to change their username, account display name, or profile photos, they will momentarily drop the check until their accounts are reviewed, the company wrote.

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Twitter Blue will have the following features: Edit Tweet, upload videos in 1080p, "reader mode" and a blue tick on their profile after review.

"Thank you for your patience as we worked to improve Blue - we're excited and look forward to sharing more with you soon!" the company wrote.

What if I have a legacy tick?

On Monday afternoon, Musk replied to a Tweet that everyone who previously had a blue check mark will soon lose their status.