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.”

Starting today, we’re testing a new program (Not A Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines. New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post & interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected.

This…

— Support (@Support) October 17, 2023

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

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.