He trialled a scheme last year in New Zealand and the Philippines where X news users had to pay a one-dollar annual fee to use some of the platform’s main features – Mr Musk’s latest comments indicate this experiment could be set for a global rollout
Elon Musk, the tech mogul behind Tesla and SpaceX, has said that X is planning to start charging new users to post.
In a response to a tweet discussing potential changes, Mr Musk said that slapping a “small fee” on new users to post, like, and reply is the “only way” to combat the scourge of fake or bot accounts. Last year saw X, formerly known as Twitter, trialled a scheme in New Zealand and the Philippines where news users had to pay a one-dollar annual fee to use some of the platform’s main features.
Mr Musk’s latest comments indicate this experiment could be set for a global rollout. “Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots,” he tweeted.
He pointed out that current AI and troll farms can easily fool the typical ‘Are you a bot?’ checks. Mr Musk also lamented that the flood of phony profiles was hogging all the snazzy usernames, leaving none for the real deal.
In another tweet, Mr Musk said that the charge might just apply for the first three months after someone signs up. When Mr Musk took over the reins at X in late 2022, he made it clear that wiping out fake and bot accounts was top of his to-do list.
But since then, many users have reported a spike in spam, which some blame on Mr Musk’s staff cutbacks, including those in charge of monitoring content. The overhaul of the verification system now allows anyone to pay for a blue tick, boosting their posts and replies on the site, which some argue is fuelling the surge in spam.
Mr Musk has previously talked about a future where all X users might have to pay to tweet. Since his takeover, it has been reported that the platform has seen substantial revenue decline as advertisers have abandoned it over concerns about Mr Musk’s belief in “absolute free speech” and his tolerance of more controversial content.
This has pushed the company towards subscription models like X Premium, where users can pay for verification, as it looks for new revenue streams.
