The world’s richest billionaire, Elon Musk proposes a fee for X users to curb the bots.
Musk shared his idea on a live stream on X featuring Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. “The single most important reason that we are moving to have a small monthly payment for the use of the X system is it is the only way I could think of to combat vast armies of bots,” he added.
While speaking with Netanyahu, Musk proposed a payment system and prioritizing premium users’ posts to combat the impact of bots. He noted that while bots can be inexpensive to operate, even a small fee could make them significantly more costly.
Netanyahu, who questioned Musk about antisemitism and hate speech on the platform, had asked how he could prevent “armies of bots” from amplifying hate speech. X currently has a free tier and subscriptions for individual subscribers and brands, and Musk said bots are the “single most important reason” to shift to monthly payments.
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The social media giant X‘s new owner, who took over last year, is incentivizing users to pay for X Premium, offering paid subscribers more features like longer posts and increased visibility. However, X users can currently still use the social media platform for free.
Since taking over the platform in October 2022, significant changes have been implemented by Elon Musk.
One of the most notable changes was renaming Twitter to X. In March, Musk replaced the platform’s original verified program, which used blue ticks to confirm the authenticity of notable figures, with the subscription-based Twitter Blue program.
These changes are part of Musk’s efforts to steer the platform towards profitability. In a post on X in July, Musk acknowledged the company’s challenging financial situation.
“We are currently experiencing negative cash flow due to a 50% drop in advertising revenue and high debt,” Musk stated in his July post. “Our priority is to achieve positive cash flow before pursuing other endeavors.”
