Elon Musk’s X, previously known as Twitter, has introduced an annual fee of $1 for new users to access certain interactive features on the platform starting from October 17, 2023.
X has initiated a trial run of its “Not A Bot” subscription tier for new users, beginning with users in the Philippines and New Zealand.
According to X, this $1/year subscription will allow new users to engage in various actions on the web version of the platform, including posting content, liking posts, replying, reposting, and quoting other users’ posts, as well as bookmarking posts.
Those who choose not to subscribe to the plan will be limited to “read-only” actions, such as reading posts, watching videos, and following accounts.
Elon Musk, in a post on X on Tuesday, explained the rationale behind this move, saying, “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.”
Musk had previously mentioned the idea of introducing a fee to discourage bot activity on X during a discussion on AI, where he noted that the fee might be “a few dollars or something.”
This latest initiative is part of X’s ongoing efforts to combat spam, platform manipulation, and bot activity. Existing users will not be affected by this trial.
The pricing for the “Not a Bot” subscription varies by country and currency. In New Zealand, the fee is $1.43 NZD per year, and in the Philippines, it is ₱42.51 PHP per year.
New users in these countries will also be required to verify their phone numbers when creating an X account.
It’s worth noting that this new subscription tier is in addition to the existing X Premium subscription, which starts at $8 per month.
X Premium provides users with a range of benefits, including a verified blue checkmark, the ability to edit posts within a one-hour window, a 50% reduction in ads, prioritized post rankings, the ability to post up to 25,000 characters (compared to the 280-character limit), and eligibility to receive a share of advertising revenue.
