Twitter reportedly set to launch new subscription service

Talk of Twitter launching a subscription service is not new. (AFP)
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Updated 18 May 2021
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Twitter reportedly set to launch new subscription service

  • $2.99 per month Twitter Blue rumored to include features such as Undo Tweet and Collections

DUBAI: Twitter is reportedly working on a new subscription service called Twitter Blue that would charge users $2.99 a month.

App researcher Jane Manchun Wong tweeted that she had discovered details about the paid service, which would include features such as Undo Tweets – similar to Gmail’s Undo Mail option – and Collections, a way for users to organize favorited tweets.

According to Wong, Twitter is also working on a tiered-subscription pricing model wherein higher tiers would have premium features such as a “clutter-free news reading experience.”

Talk of Twitter launching a subscription service is not new.

In July, the company’s CEO Jack Dorsey told CNN that the firm was looking at additional streams of revenue including, potentially, a subscription model.

That same month, journalist Andrew Roth tweeted pictures of a survey the company was conducting to find out what users would like in a paid service. The options included features such as undo tweets, longer videos, and ad blocking.

In January, Twitter bought newsletter platform Revue and in May acquired Scroll. In a blog post, Mike Park, vice president of product at Scroll, said that the service was going into private beta “as we integrate into a broader Twitter subscription later in the year,” indicating that the subscription service was due for launch this year.

Twitter was reportedly also planning to launch a $4.99 per month subscription product this year called Super Follows, which would allow users and publishers to earn money from followers for exclusive content and e-commerce deals.

The exact launch date and pricing as well as product details of Twitter Blue and Super Follows are yet to be officially announced by the company.

Twitter declined to comment on the launch of Twitter Blue but with regard to Super Follows a spokesperson told Arab News: “Our purpose is to serve the public conversation. As a part of that work, we are examining and rethinking the incentives of our service – the behaviors that our product features encourage and discourage as people participate in conversation on Twitter.

“Exploring audience funding opportunities like Super Follows will allow creators and publishers to be directly supported by their audience and will incentivize them to continue creating content that their audience loves.

“Super Follows is not available yet, but we’ll have more to share in the coming months,” the spokesperson said.


Meta to charge Arab advertisers extra fee for reaching European audiences

Updated 11 March 2026
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Meta to charge Arab advertisers extra fee for reaching European audiences

  • US tech giant told advertisers it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms to offset digital service taxes
  • Charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based

LONDON: Meta will from July 1 impose location-based surcharges on advertisers targeting audiences in six European countries, a move that will directly affect Arab businesses that run campaigns across the continent.

The US tech giant announced it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to offset digital service taxes imposed by individual governments.

Crucially, the charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based.

That means Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian or other Arab companies paying to reach consumers in the UK, France or Italy will face the additional costs regardless of their own country’s tax arrangements with Meta.

Fees will apply at 2 percent for ads reaching UK audiences, 3 percent for France, Italy and Spain, and 5 percent for Austria and Turkiye.

“If you deliver $100 in ads to Italy, where there is a 3% location fee, you will be charged $100 (ad delivery), plus $3 (location fee), for $103 total,” the company wrote in an email to an advertiser initially reported by Bloomberg. “Note that any applicable VAT will be calculated on top of the total amount.”

The taxes have been introduced at different points, starting with France in 2019, though not the EU as a bloc.

Many tech companies report substantial sales in Europe and millions of users but pay minimal tax on profits. The goal is to claw back locally derived economic value, Bloomberg reported.

The move follows similar decisions by Google and Amazon, which have also begun passing European digital tax costs on to advertisers.

For Arab brands with growing European footprints, particularly in fashion, travel, hospitality and media, the new fees add another layer of cost to campaigns already subject to currency and targeting complexities.

Digital services taxes, levied as a percentage of revenues earned by major tech platforms in individual countries, have drawn criticism from Washington, which argues they unfairly target US companies.

Meta has been reached for comments.