Elon Musk’s X Introduces Yearly Subscription to Post

Published: October 20, 2023

Elon Musk’s X Introduces Yearly Subscription to Post

By Movieguide® Contributor

X, formerly known as Twitter, plans to charge users $1 per year to post on the platform in an effort to combat bots.

“As of October 17th, 2023 we’ve started testing ‘Not A Bot,’ a new subscription method for new users in two countries [New Zealand and the Philippines]. This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity. 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,” X released on their website.

Users who want to write posts will be charged approximately $1 annually. In New Zealand, the subscription is priced at $1.43 NXD per year, while in the Philippines, it costs PHP 42.51.

Users who choose not to subscribe will only be able to “read posts.”

“This new program aims to defend against bots and spammers who attempt to manipulate the platform and disrupt the experience of other X users. We look forward to sharing more about the results soon,” the statement said.

Elon Musk clarified, “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.”

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.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2023

“Musk last month said X/Twitter is ‘moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system’ — a step that is necessary, he said, to thwart the plague of bots flooding the platform. His comments about charging X users came during a discussion on AI that included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Musk said the monthly fee might be ‘a few dollars or something,’ which he said would be sufficient to deter the creation of bot accounts,” Variety reported.

“The move to charge new users comes as Musk sees alternative avenues for revenue to advertising, and pushes for X to become an ‘everything’ app – including payment services. Musk has said an advertiser boycott since his takeover and concern about its management of inappropriate or hateful content has caused ad revenue to decline by 60%,” The Guardian wrote.

Movieguide® previously reported on Twitter’s rebrand to X:

Elon Musk and the newly hired CEO of Twitter, Linda Yaccarino, announced on July 23 that Twitter will change its name and logo to X.

Yaccarino tweeted, “X is here! Let’s do this.”

She continued, “It’s an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate.”

“Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square. X is the future state of unlimited interactivity—centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking—creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine,” she described.