Elon Musk's rebranded social media platform, X (previously known as Twitter), has announced its new strategy aimed at curbing the plague of bots on the platform.
In a bid to ensure genuine human engagement and deter automated malfeasance, the platform is testing a subscription model where new users will be charged a nominal fee of $1 annually to unlock features such as liking or sharing posts, as per the Financial Times.
This move comes after Musk's acquisition of the social media platform last year for a whopping $44 billion. Famously skeptical of the bot menace, he even contemplated pulling out of the deal citing their rampant proliferation.
The newly introduced model, aptly named "Not a Bot", will soon make its debut for new users in two countries - New Zealand and the Philippines. As per the announcement on Wednesday, once users verify their phone number, the $1 charge will grant them privileges like posting, liking, replying, and sharing on the web version of X.
Those who opt out can still consume content but will be restricted from interacting. Current users, however, will remain unaffected.
In their statement announcing the new strategy, X highlighted: "This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity." The minimal fee, they believe, will strike the right balance between maintaining accessibility and countering bot activity.
While the current focus is on the web version, there's still ambiguity surrounding the application of this model on the X app.
Echoing Musk's proactive approach, this subscription plan reaffirms his commitment to purging bots. During a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month, he articulated that by elevating the account setup cost, even marginally, bot creators might be deterred.
As reported by The Guardian, the billionaire mogul reasoned: "Plus, every time a bot creator wanted to make another bot, they would need another new payment method."
Following the announcement, X users were quick to share their thoughts on the platform - and the opinion was mixed.
"If new people can't access and effectively engage with the site for free this place will just slowly atrophy," one person tweeted.
A second added: "The purpose is to get rid of bots. Or at least, make it slower and less convenient to generate bots. Hopefully it will work."
"It'd likely stop a lot of the bot accounts that pop up daily but it'd also slow new user growth quite a bit. It'd then only be a matter of time before he started charging current users," shared a third.
Moreover, amid falling revenues – a 60% drop in the US as stated by Musk last month – this might be a strategic move for X. The revenue decline was attributed to Musk's decision to ease moderation, which didn't sit well with many advertisers.
Existing subscription services on X include premium tiers priced at $8 and $11 monthly for web and app users, respectively. Musk even considered universal charges for all users as an anti-bot measure. Furthermore, insider sources reported the exploration of a tiered subscription model, with names like Basic, Standard, and Plus, adjusting costs based on user preferences for advertising and features.
In unrelated news, 'X' has recently come under the scanner for alleged misinformation and hate speech concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This has spurred an investigation by EU regulators.
