Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is now charging a $1 annual fee to new users in New Zealand and the Philippines, in a move to combat spams and fake bots.
The company said Tuesday it has started to test a new subscription model for new and unverified accounts for basic features. Existing users won’t be affected.
The program, dubbed “Not A Bot,” will charge users to “post content, like posts, reply, repost and quote other accounts’ posts, [and] bookmark posts.”
New free users will be restricted to “read only” actions: read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts.
It’s not clear why it only applies to New Zealand and the Philippines or why those countries were chosen.
“This new 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. It is not a profit driver,” the company said in a blog post.
“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” Mr. Musk explained. “Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny—call a tenth of a penny—but even if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount, the effective cost of bots is very high. And then you also have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot.”
“So that’s actually the constraint of how many different credit cards you can find, even on the dark web or whatever,” he added.
Some experts said charging a fee might not do much to stop fake accounts and could even amplify the problem.
If X decides to roll out the $1 fee worldwide, it could be “disastrous” for the platform, said Kolina Koltai, a researcher at the investigative collective Bellingcat who previously worked at Twitter.
“There is nothing to stop a scammer from spending $100 to buy a hundred new bot accounts. In fact, it may even make the platform more bot filled,” she said. “New users to the platform may not be inclined to pay $1 and give their credit card information to X.”
Since Mr. Musk bought the company a year ago, he has introduced a slew of changes such as renaming the platform and reducing its workforce—including its content moderation team.
Mr. Musk previously turned to premium subscriptions as a tactic to boost the financially struggling platform’s revenue.
One of his first product moves was to shake up the site’s blue check verification system by launching a service granting checks to anyone willing to pay $8 a month. A flood of impostor accounts forced the service’s temporary suspension days after it launched.
Ms. Koltai noted that the $8 program hasn’t deterred bots or spam accounts. Researchers also point out that accounts subscribing to the blue-check service can get paid if their posts go viral, creating a financial incentive to post whatever gets the most reaction.
