Elon Musk’s New Gambit: X to charge $1-a-year from new users for basic features in hopes to curb bots

In a recent move by X, web users in New Zealand and the Philippines are now required to pay a yearly fee of $1 to access the platform and use any of its basic features, like posting, bookmarking or even liking a post. This subscription, part of the “Not A Bot” programme, aims to reinforce efforts to combat spam, manipulation, and bot activity on the platform, as announced by X in a blogpost New users in these two countries joining via the web will also need to verify their accounts using a phone number, according to the post. Fortune first hinted at Elon Musk’s intention to charge new users $1 annually shortly before X’s official announcement. However, X’s post does not provide a clear explanation for why the $1 subscription is exclusive to web users and not applicable to the mobile app. Furthermore, it raises questions about why the “Not A Bot” programme is only being introduced in these two countries. Speculation suggests that X may have observed a higher level of bot activity in these regions and that creating fake accounts via the website might be more prevalent. “This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount,” said X in the blog post. “Within this test, existing users are not affected.”

Users who choose not to subscribe to the $1 fee will have limited functionality, restricted to “read-only” actions like viewing posts and watching videos. It’s worth noting that while the “Not A Bot” terms and conditions indicate the option to subscribe from X’s iOS and Android apps, the primary post on X’s help centre focuses on web users.

Correct, read for free, but $1/year to write. It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users.

This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2023

More from World

India’s US envoy Kwatra discusses bilateral trade ties with US lawmakers Netanyahu accuses Hamas leaders of derailing ceasefire, says eliminating them in Qatar could end Gaza war

This new subscription programme is an addition to X’s primary subscription offering, which costs $8 per month. Elon Musk, who has been vocal about charging for platform access as a means to deter bot armies, acknowledges that only a minuscule percentage of users are currently paying. Nonetheless, he boasts about the increasing user engagement on X, despite these changes.