New users in two countries will be charged $1 per year
X is launching a program with subscription to reduce use of its platform and bot activity, and it is requiring social users to sign a Verification Badge
If you want to be part of X, you’ll have to shell out $1 a year.
X said in a post on its help center Tuesday that it is starting a program with subscription in two countries to reduce use of its platform and bot activity. In addition, new web users in New Zealand and the Philippines will have to verify their account with a phone number, the post says. Fortune first reported that Musk was going to charge new users $1 a year shortly before X’s announcement went live.
(Confusingly, the “Not A Bot” terms and conditions indicate that people will be able to also subscribe from X’s iOS and Android apps, even though the main post on X’s help center only specifies web.)
The European Commission is investigating the handling of illegal content by X on the site. Under a European Union law known as the Digital Services Act, social platforms must quickly remove illegal content such as hate speech, incitements of violence, and harmful disinformation. Fees are equivalent to 6 percent of a company’s annual global revenue if you fail to do.
Users who pay for a monthly membership of Twitter, affixing a Verification Badge to their profile, can make money off posts that go global, spurring many to take advantage of misinformation in order to earn a profit.
Musk’s X to charge users in Philippines and New Zealand $1 to use platform: State of the affairs after the Israel-Gaza war
The Israel-Gaza war has tested X in new ways. Since the violence erupted, a flood of bogus claims, unsubstantiated rumors and other falsehoods have inundated the platform.
Linda Yaccarino, the new X CEO, was an ad executive before she became one and she said recently that she thinks the company will be profitable by early next year.
The new figures show that global traffic to the site is down by nearly 15% compared to last year. In the U.S., which makes up about a quarter of its web traffic, the platform experienced a nearly 20% decline in traffic compared to year-ago figures.
The company has been struggling to stay afloat in the face of changes made by the billionaire that have created new levels of chaos and chaos on the site.
Musk made drastic changes after his takeover, including decreasing staff by 75% and making blue check marks available for $8 a month.
Since buying the platform a year ago, Musk has been cracking down on bots, and other fake accounts that look like real people. He has tried to fix the problem, but it is still a problem.
Source: Musk’s X to charge users in Philippines and New Zealand $1 to use platform
Is Not a Bot: Implications of Musk’s X-like hints at a paywall in the works for users of X
It is unclear why the company chose to start annual fees in the Philippines and New Zealand. Whether and when the initiative will reach other users around the world is also not known. Fortune reported on the $1-a-year fee plan.
If the yearly fees are applied more broadly, it will mark a major departure for the service which has been free to use since it was founded.
The idea is that the cost of creating a fake account could be deterred by charging a few dollars or something.
Musk hinted at a paywall in the works for users of X in a September interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming that it may be the only way “to combat vast armies of bots.”
The company announced the program, called Not a Bot, late Tuesday, saying the annual fee will apply to new users who want to post, like, reply and quote other content on the platform. Reading posts on the site’s timeline will be possible without a charge.
