According to CNBC, X (formerly known as Twitter) will begin testing annual fees for new users on the web.
X has just announced a new service package called “Not A Bot”, in which new users in New Zealand and the Philippines must pay an annual fee of 1 USD to post, like, and comment. comment and cite other posts. New accounts that don’t subscribe to a paid plan can only read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts. Additionally, they need to provide a phone number for account verification.
However, old accounts will not be affected during the test
The platform claims the $1 fee is not to increase revenue, the company’s main purpose is to reduce bots, and spam and balance accessibility on X. In a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in September Last year, Mr. Elon Musk revealed his plan to charge all X users to fight against the huge number of bots.
The company’s post does not explain why the $1 service package does not apply to users on the app or that “Not A Bot” is only deployed in 2 countries. According to The Verge, X found that these two places have more active bots than other areas, besides, creating fake accounts through the website will be easier than on the phone.
However, experts believe that many bad actors are still willing to pay registration fees and turn verified accounts into bots. According to CNBC, the number of bots on the platform is increasing under Elon Musk. Right from the beginning of ownership, the American billionaire fired a series of employees to cut costs, changed account verification methods, and switched to a fee model.
Despite constant complaints about new policies, Elon Musk’s platform still successfully “retains” the majority of users in the context of Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky or Meta’s Threads, which have not yet become worthy competitors of X
