French minister says will not pay for Twitter's blue checkmark

FILE PHOTO: French Health Minister Olivier Veran arrives to attend the last weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) - French minister and government spokesman Olivier Veran said on Sunday that he would not pay Twitter's $7.99 a month fee for account verification and that he had concerns about the ambitions of the social media platform's new owner Elon Musk.

Twitter updated its app in Apple's App Store on Saturday to begin charging for the blue checkmarks, the first major revision since Musk took over in a $44 billion deal on Oct. 28.