Elon Musk’s new solution to fight spam bots on X? New users must pay a fee to post

Bots are still a huge problem for X (formerly known as Twitter) and the social media platform is still trying to find new ways to prevent spam posts on its platform. Tech billionaire Elon Musk appears to have a simpler solution: To charge new users before they can post a new tweet.

New X accounts can’t post unless they pay a fee

Early this morning, a change was discovered on X’s policy which require all new X accounts to pay a small fee before they can post, like, bookmark or reply to an X post. It was mentioned that the new policy is aimed at reducing spam and creating a better experience for everyone. This means new X users can only follow accounts and browse X for free unless they pay up to unlock the full experience.

Elon Musk’s new solution to fight spam bots on X? New users must pay a fee to post

Interestingly, this paid fee for new users was already introduced in New Zealand and the Philippines as part of the test. Described as “Not a Bot” program, new unverified users will be required to pay an annual fee of USD 1 (about RM4.79) before they can post or interact with another post on X. This only applies to new signups and does not apply to existing users.

New X users can post for free after 3 months

According to Elon Musk, the small fee for new users is currently the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots. With the current AI and troll farms, new spam accounts can bypass the “are you a bot” check with ease. He added that the fake accounts also uses up available namespace and many good handles were taken as a result.

Elon has clarified that this fee will be only for new users and they will be able to post for free after 3 months. So far there’s no clarity on the pricing details. Some have commented that the 3 month paywall may not be effective since spammers can create new accounts and only start posting after 3 months.

X currently offers paid subscription from RM13

At the moment, X is offering its paid subscription for RM13.13 per month for Basic or RM35 per month for Premium. The Basic level allows users to edit posts, longer posts, longer video uploads, reply prioritisation, text formating, bookmark folders and custom app icons. For Premium, it gets all the Basic features but you get a checkmark, fewer adds and access to apply for ad revenue sharing.

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