Elon Musk’s X Tests $1 Annual Fee in Desperate Attempt to Fight Bots, Spam
After Elon Musk recently floated the idea that X, formerly Twitter, could begin charging all users for its service, the company announced that it has started testing a subscription tier for new users in the Philippines and New Zealand.
The program, called “Not a Bot,” will cost new users in both countries one dollar a year to post and interact with other posts. New users who select the subscription plan on X will be able to “post content, Like posts, Reply, Repost and Quote other accounts’ posts, Bookmark posts.”
Meanwhile, new users who opt out will be limited to “‘read only’ actions, such as: Read posts, Watch videos, and Follow accounts.” Fortune first reported on X’s new plan to charge an annual fee to access key features.
“It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users,” Musk wrote in a post on Tuesday. “This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform.”
The social media company touted that the test was developed to “bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount.”
X’s new test comes a month after Musk hinted at the potential to charge all users during a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Tesla CEO said the company was “moving to a small monthly payment” for the use of the X platform. He added, “Plus, every time a bot creator wanted to make another bot, they would need another new payment method.”
Since Musk’s takeover of X, the CEO has dissolved its trust and safety council, fired nearly half of its Election Integrity Team fighting disinformation, reinstated previously banned extremist accounts, and allowed users to purchase verification and then profit from viral content that isn’t necessarily accurate.