Elon Musk’s X rolls out annual fee for new users
London | Elon Musk’s X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, has started a $US1-per-year subscription fee for new accounts that want to post or interact with other users, saying the measure has the potential to reduce spam, automated bot accounts and manipulation of its service.
The test, called “Not a Bot”, rolled out in New Zealand and the Philippines, X said in a blog post this week. New users who do not pay the fee will not be able to take certain actions on the site, including writing posts, liking, replying or bookmarking.
“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,” according to the blog post. “Within this test, existing users are not affected.” “It is not a profit driver.”
The San Francisco-based company has been on the hunt for new revenue sources since the billionaire’s chaotic takeover last year, which saddled it with $US13 billion ($20 billion) in debt and drove away advertisers concerned about loosening content-safety rules. X owes about $US1.2 billion in interest payments per year on its acquisition-related debt, Bloomberg has estimated.
To reinvigorate growth, X plans to test three tiers of its premium service, and will launch additional features that could generate revenue such as shopping and payments, chief executive Linda Yaccarino told bankers this month. X’s premium plan, which currently costs $US7.99 a month, would be split into tiers that would let the company charge customers different amounts depending on how many ads they are shown.
New X users in the two test markets will have to subscribe to either the “Not a Bot” program or an X Premium tier, known for giving paying customers blue check marks, in order to write and interact with posts. Social media sites have previously cited the Philippines as a hot spot for fake accounts.
Some experts said charging a fee might not do much to stop fake accounts and could even amplify the problem.
If X decided to roll out the $US1 fee worldwide, it could be “disastrous” for the platform, said Kolina, a researcher at the investigative collective Bellingcat. Koltai previously worked at Twitter.
Slew of changes
“There is nothing to stop a scammer from spending $US100 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 $US1 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 gutting its workforce – including its content moderation team.
Outside watchdog groups say the changes have allowed misinformation to thrive on the platform, a problem that exploded after the Israel-Hamas war erupted.
One of Mr Musk’s 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 the $US7.99 a month. A flood of impostor accounts forced the service’s temporary suspension days after it launched.
Ms Koltai noted that the $US7.99 program had not 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.
Bloomberg and AP
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