Users will be charged for SMS two-factor authentication on Twitter

For $8, you may enjoy the thrill of entering numbers after receiving a text message.

Non-Twitter Blue members now have 30 days to join the Blue train or risk having their SMS two-factor authentication disabled. Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer referred to Twitter’s and CEO Elon Musk’s new policy in a post early Friday afternoon.

According to an updated blog post on Twitter’s website, the news is all but official. Although SMS is a popular type of 2FA, it may be readily exploited, according to the article. As a result, the site is tying the ability to utilize its poorest form of authentication to an $8 subscription (or $11 if you use an iOS device). Non-Twitter Blue customers are advised to “consider utilizing an authentication app or security key approach instead.” So it’s either that or wait until March 20, when Twitter turns it off for you.

SMS 2FA is not necessary to enter into the app, according to Twitter, but it is one of the platform’s most popular modes of authentication. According to Rachel Tobac on Twitter, based on the site’s own transparency statistics, just 2.6 percent of the platform’s users have 2FA, with SMS authentication accounting for the great majority (74 percent).

As The Verge’s Sean Hollister points out, one major reason a corporation would place SMS authentication behind a paywall is because sending SMS texts is expensive. Twitter is starving for cash, and the billionaire’s objective has been to phase out SMS totally since he took control. Yet, for the time being, it seems like Musk has discovered a method to at least monetize SMS. Since that Twitter Blue subscriptions are earning less than expected, SMS authentication for all users may be taken away totally in the near future.