Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, attends the Viva Expertise convention devoted to innovation and startups on the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, June 16, 2023.
Chesnot | Getty Photographs
X, previously Twitter, will start a check that costs new customers $1 yearly with a view to “publish & work together with different posts,” the corporate mentioned in a latest publish.
The social media platform mentioned Thursday night the transfer is a part of its efforts to fight spam and bot exercise. The annual subscription is a part of a program the corporate is looking “Not A Bot,” and might be first examined in New Zealand and the Philippines.
Elon Musk beforehand mentioned the corporate deliberate to maneuver to a subscription charge mannequin in September. X mentioned the modifications usually are not a revenue driver.
Customers who’re unable or unwilling to pay the annual charge will solely be capable of view posts and observe accounts, the corporate mentioned. Extra bot exercise has been a constant rallying cry for Elon Musk since earlier than he acquired the corporate in October 2022.
He first claimed that Twitter, because the platform was beforehand identified, was underreporting the variety of bots on the platform as a part of his efforts to again out of the binding $44 billion acquisition deal. It was a declare primarily based on evaluation that was disputed by quite a few consultants.
Bot exercise has reportedly worsened below Musk’s possession. Many selections ordered by Musk have dramatically modified the social media platform, which is broadly thought of to be a crucial a part of catastrophe response infrastructure and an necessary software for newsgathering.
Early in his possession, Musk ordered modifications to the way in which customers are verified — phasing out the notability necessities in favor of a paid mannequin — and made cuts to belief and security groups as a part of a broader cost-cutting initiative.
Impartial researchers had beforehand recognized a big variety of bot accounts that tout crypto tokens, driving up their costs. Many customers have complained concerning the platform’s degradation, and but opponents like Bluesky, Meta’s Threads, or Mastodon have but to mature into significant opponents.
It is not clear when the paid subscription will roll out worldwide.
