New users of the social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter) will be asked to pay a small fee in order to access key features such as posting, liking and reposting. This is an attempt to curb spam bots which have been a consistent problem on the platform for years.
Spam bots are essentially automated messages designed to mimic human behavior. Some act like celebrities and brands or use explicit content in attempts to scam their victims. They may ask to wire money, send gift cards or give them personal information used to steal user’s identities.
From the beginning of his X/Twitter journey, Elon Musk wished to get rid of the bots on the platform. Musk started the purchase of then-Twitter in April 2022. Later that year in July, Musk attempted to back out of the deal, claiming that Twitter executives misled him about the amount of spam. As a result, Twitter started a lawsuit against Musk in the Delaware Chancery Court that was set to go to trial in October. Days before it was set to begin, Musk completed the $44 billion deal.
In July 2023, Musk announced that Twitter would be transformed into X. The rebranding is still ongoing, with the domain of the website still being “twitter.com.” All former icons of the site, such as the blue Twitter bird logo and referring to posts as ‘tweets,’ have been completely removed. Musk’s rebranding has been controversial, with many of the 368 million monthly active users still referring to the site as Twitter. Musk’s attempt to limit spam in his way of making a mark on his platform.
Since buying the platform, Musk has teased several times that users may have to pay. For example, if users wish to have the blue checkmark by their username, a symbol once only for celebrities or important figures, they can subscribe to X Premium. This was yet another attempt to stop the bots from flooding the replies or user’s inboxes.
In October 2023, as part of the ‘Not A Bot’ initiative, X piloted a program where new users had to pay a one dollar fee in order to access X’s key features. At first, only New Zealand and the Philippines were the only countries where this was in effect, but that is soon about to change.
User “XUpdatesRadar,” a bot user that automatically detects new changes to X’s code, first reported the change on Monday, April 15. Musk confirmed the information in a reply.
“Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots,” Musk posted. “Current AI (and troll farms) can pass “are you a bot” with ease.”
Musk said in a later post that this will also free up “so many good handles” as bots take “up the available namespace.”
There is no news on when this policy will be put into effect or if the one dollar will remain.
