Elon Musk is moving forward with a plan to charge new X users to tweet, saying it’s a necessary measure to fight bots. Musk mentioned the effort today after X, previously Twitter, was spotted adding language about new users paying a “small annual fee” to post on the social media platform. In response, Musk tweeted: “Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots. Current AI (and troll farms) can pass ‘are you a bot’ with ease.”
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Musk made the statement months after Twitter began testing a $1 annual fee for new sign-ups in New Zealand and the Philippines. If a new user doesn’t pay, they’ll only be able to read posts and follow other users, not reply, like, or tweet. Musk didn’t say when X will expand this so-called “not a bot” policy to more markets. It appears new users who join X today can still post. And while X documentation refers to this as an “annual fee,” Musk suggested in a follow-up tweet that it may be just a one-time payment. “This is only for new users. They will be able to do write actions for free after 3 months,” he wrote. Although Musk says the fee is necessary to stop bots, many users on Twitter are questioning the approach, in part because Musk used the same justification when charging for access to blue verified checkmarks. Since then, bots and spammers continue to pop up on the platform, many with a blue badge.
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“Nearly every bot already pays $8 for a blue check—is he a moron?” wrote one user in response to Musk’s plan. Others are posting screenshots of the crypto-related scams on the platform.
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“He’s probably lying about wanting to reduce bots,” added one user on Reddit. “More realistically he wants to make some extra money off them while creating the appearance that he is addressing the bot problem.”
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