Another day and another tweet from Elon Musk, announcing yet another major change for the microblogging platform.
Since his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October, the billionaire has been on a mission to revamp every aspect of the company, from technical features to consumer policies.
On July 1, he announced that Twitter would be temporarily limiting the number of tweets people can read in a day. On July 2, he followed that up with a Tweet encouraging users to “step away from the phone”.
The limits are at 10,000 posts a day for verified users, 1,000 posts a day for unverified users and 500 posts a day for new unverified users, Mr Musk said.
The social media platform now also requires users to have an account and be logged in to view user profiles and tweets, a move Mr Musk claims will prevent data from being “pillaged so much”.
Unregistered users who want to view a Twitter profile will be prompted to log in or sign up, while those attempting to view tweets will be greeted with the “Something went wrong. Try reloading” message, The National can confirm.
The moves are aimed at boosting user experience and diversifying the platform’s revenue sources, according to Mr Musk.
Twitter is roughly breaking even and would become cash-flow positive in the coming quarters as advertisers return, he told the BBC in April.
Here are some of the major changes announced since the change of management:
1. Twitter 2.0 The Everything App
In line with the industry shift towards “ultra apps”, which provide a number of services to retain users, Mr Musk announced plans for the Twitter 2.0 The Everything App in November, soon after his takeover.
As part of the revamp, Mr Musk said in May that video and voice calls were “coming soon” to the microblogging platform.
With the move, Twitter would take on other established apps that offer the same feature, most notably those from Meta Platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
As part of the revamp, Twitter also said it was also moving forward with plans to introduce a payments feature, steering it towards Mr Musk's goal of tapping into new revenue streams, the Financial Times reported in January.
2. Paid subscription for blue tick
In December, Twitter relaunched Twitter Blue, the platform's top-tier account, which indicates that a user is verified, as a paid subscription service.
The premium feature’s fees start at $8 a month for individuals, with new joiners getting subscriber-only features including Edit Tweet, 1080p video uploads, reader mode, the coveted blue check mark and longer tweets.
The costs of keeping the ticks start at $1,000 a month for organisations, plus $50 monthly for each affiliate or employee account.
Twitter also recently boosted the character limit for its Blue subscribers to 25,000, from 10,000 earlier.
3. Two-factor authentication for Blue users
In February, Twitter said that it would charge its users to use two-factor authentication (2FA) to secure their accounts by text message.
Phone number-based 2FAs are being “used and abused by bad actors”, Twitter said in a blog post at the time.
4. Publishers allowed to charge users
The microblogging social platform said in April that it would allow publishers to charge users on a per article basis from May.
The move will enable users who do not sign up for a monthly subscription “to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article”, Mr Musk said in a tweet at the time.
5. Twitter to take 10 per cent cut on content subscriptions
Twitter will take a 10 per cent cut on content subscriptions after the first year, Mr Musk said in late April.
This followed an announcement allowing users to be able to offer their followers subscriptions to content, including long-form text and hours-long video.
Mr Musk also said that the company would not take a cut for the first 12 months of content subscriptions.
6. Open source 'literally everything'
In April, Mr Musk said the social media company would make “literally everything” open source as part of his pledge to promote transparency on the platform.
The move is expected to allow the public to inspect and scrutinise the social media company's proprietary software, pitch their ideas to developers on how to change Twitter's code or even use the algorithm in their own applications.
7. Bans accounts linking to rival social media platforms
Last year, Twitter said it would remove the accounts of users who link to its rival platforms.
The list of rivals mentioned by Twitter included Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Post and Nostr. TikTok was not included.
8. Restructuring staff with thousands of layoffs
Mr Musk cut thousands of jobs after acquiring Twitter last year, saying that it was losing $4 million a day and advertisers were fleeing the microblogging platform.
Twitter shed about 80 per cent of its employees since Mr Musk took over in October, CNBC reported in January, citing internal records it had seen.
9. Leadership changes
In June, Linda Yaccarino took over as Twitter's chief executive.
Previously the head of advertising at NBC Universal, Ms Yaccarino has been given the task of revitalising Twitter's revenue streams.
She replaced Mr Musk, who was asked by a majority of Twitter users to step down as chief executive in a poll he conducted in December.
10. Merger with X Corp
In April, Twitter was merged with Mr Musk’s firm X Corp.
In the past, he has indicated that acquiring Twitter would be an “accelerant” for creating X, an “everything app”.
He said he intended to make X similar to WeChat, China's most popular messaging service.
11. Move towards AI
In March, Mr Musk said the company would use artificial intelligence to curb manipulation of public opinion on the platform.
He was said to be in discussions with Igor Babuschkin, who left DeepMind AI, to lead a group of artificial intelligence researchers in the effort, The Information reported at the time.
12. Rebrand as X
Twitter rebranded as X on July 24 after Mr Musk unveiled its new logo, a day after he said that the microblogging platform's bird would soon be replaced.
In the past, he had indicated that acquiring Twitter would be an “accelerant” for creating X, an “everything app”. He said he intended to make X similar to WeChat, China's most popular messaging service.
Of course, the logo change led to a spate of memes on Twitter, as users questioned the rationale behind replacing the bird.
13. An ad revenue sharing programme
X rolled out its advertisement revenue sharing programme with content creators on July 29, as Mr Musk sought to diversify revenue sources.
The company had already given payouts to a number of creators earlier in July. But with the announcement, users globally who meet the eligibility criteria can apply for the programme from the monetisation tab in the X's settings, the company had said.
The programme, first announced by Mr Musk in February, will let creators set up ad revenue sharing and creator subscriptions independently.
To be eligible, the account must be a subscriber to Blue Verified or be a Verified Organisation, have at least 15 million impressions on cumulative posts within the past three months or have at least 500 followers. They also must have an account with payment processor Stripe to receive payouts.
14. Fixing shadow banning
On August 17, Mr Musk said that shadow banning on X will be “fixed soon”, in an another apparent move to make good on his pledge to make the platform more transparent.
Shadow banning, in simple terms, is used to restrict or limit a user's activity and reach instead of outright banning them – all without informing the user. It is used as a content-moderating technique also known as ghost banning, stealth banning and comment ghosting.
Its use, therefore, is two-pronged: while it can be used to curb misinformation, hate speech and fake news, platforms can also use it to limit the visibility of users they deem to be critical or unfair to them – or, in extreme cases, even as a form of punishing them.
Mr Musk himself has been accused of using this technique. This week, X was reported to have delayed access to the websites of companies that have been critical of his companies, as well as social media rivals.
15. Dropping the block feature
On August 18, Mr Musk said that the “block” feature on X will soon no longer be available for users. “It will be deleted as a 'feature', except for DMs”, or direct messages, he said.
The block button is a critical component in applications, most notably in email and social media. It helps users remove unwanted posts and followers, including spam messages, trolls, users who harass and other content they deem inappropriate or offensive.
This has drawn fire from Twitter users: in an age where users and society have heightened sensitivities, the removal of the block feature will be a blow.
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
PRESIDENTS CUP
Draw for Presidents Cup fourball matches on Thursday (Internationals first mention). All times UAE:
02.32am (Thursday): Marc Leishman/Joaquin Niemann v Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas
02.47am (Thursday): Adam Hadwin/Im Sung-jae v Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay
03.02am (Thursday): Adam Scott/An Byeong-hun v Bryson DeChambeau/Tony Finau
03.17am (Thursday): Hideki Matsuyama/CT Pan v Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed
03.32am (Thursday): Abraham Ancer/Louis Oosthuizen v Dustin Johnson/Gary Woodland
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Mobile phone packages comparison
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.6-litre turbo
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp
Torque: 240Nm
Price: From Dh89,000 (Enjoy), Dh99,900 (Innovation)
On sale: Now
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
Results
1. New Zealand Daniel Meech – Fine (name of horse), Richard Gardner – Calisto, Bruce Goodin - Backatorps Danny V, Samantha McIntosh – Check In. Team total First round: 200.22; Second round: 201.75 – Penalties 12 (jump-off 40.16 seconds) Prize €64,000
2. Ireland Cameron Hanley – Aiyetoro, David Simpson – Keoki, Paul Kennedy – Cartown Danger Mouse, Shane Breen – Laith. Team total 200.25/202.84 – P 12 (jump-off 51.79 – P17) Prize €40,000
3. Italy Luca Maria Moneta – Connery, Luca Coata – Crandessa, Simone Coata – Dardonge, Natale Chiaudani – Almero. Team total 130.82/198.-4 – P20. Prize €32,000
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
