Elon Musk on Wednesday said that in order to tackle bots, new X users will need to pay $1 per year to post on the platform, although they can read other posts for free. The company is rolling out the test of this new programme in New Zealand and the Philippines, before it launches it globally.
X will require new users in New Zealand and the Philippines to pay $1 to create accounts.
“Read for free, but $1/year to write. It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users,” Musk posted. “This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform,” he added.
According to X, this was done in order to fight bots and will be piloted in these countries.
The new move, part of a so-called ‘Not A Bot’ programme, is designed to “bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity,” X said.
New users who opt out of subscribing will only be able to take ‘read only’ actions,” such as viewing posts and watching videos. This new programme is in addition to X’s main subscription with verified at $8 for month.
X is also reportedly planning to split its premium paid subscription service into three membership tiers to earn more money and become profitable by 2024. According to reports, X would split the current $8 Premium subscription into three different plans: Basic, Standard, and Plus, at various price points.