In a significant development, X, formerly known as Twitter, has introduced a program that mandates new and unverified users to pay a $1 annual subscription fee for sign-up.
The announcement was made via a statement posted on the support account of the renowned social media platform today, October 18.
X has initiated a testing phase for this program, currently underway in New Zealand and the Philippines. During this test, new accounts will be granted the ability to post and interact with other users upon payment of the subscription fee.
The official statement released by X reads as follows: “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 new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform, and bot activity while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. It is not a profit driver.
“And so far, subscription options have proven to be the main solution that works at scale.”
In a tweet on Wednesday, Elon Musk, Chairman of X, shared the reason behind the introduction of the annual subscription fee.
Musk stated, “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.”
This bold move by X aims to enhance the platform’s integrity and thwart the infiltration of spam and automated bot accounts.
