ADVERTISEMENT

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is charging users in New Zealand and the Philippines $1 (€0.94) annually to use key features as part of a new service aimed at combatting bots.

The company confirmed on October 17 that the “Not A Bot” subscription will allow key functions such as tweeting, replying, and liking.

But it means that users who opt out of the service can only read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts.

“This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity,” X said in a statement.

“This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. Within this test, existing users are not affected”.

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion (€41 billion) in October last year, the company’s value has plummeted with advertising revenue falling by around 50 per cent as of July.

He fired more than half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff in an effort to cut costs when he took over the social media platform.

In July, the SpaceX and Tesla boss rebranded Twitter as X in a bid to transform the company into an “everything app”, which would include features such as payment services in addition to social networking.

Musk hinted at charging all users last month while in conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said charging “a few dollars or something” for accounts could limit new bot accounts being set up.

“Every time a bot creator wanted to make another bot, they would need another new payment method,” he said.

In April, X began charging users €11 a month for the X premium blue tick service. However, bots still remain an issue for the company.