X will charge new users in two countries $1 per year to interact with posts
The Hindu
X (formerly Twitter) announced it was rolling out a paid anti-bot programme in New Zealand and the Philippines.
X (formerly Twitter) announced on Wednesday it was rolling out an anti-bot programme in New Zealand and the Philippines, where new X users who do not pay for verification will have to pay $1 every year to make posts or interact with others.
Existing users who already have X accounts will not be affected by the ‘Not a Bot’ programme, said the X Support Team. New users who do not pay will only be able to view posts and media.
“This new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform, and bot activity, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. It is not a profit driver,” said part of the X team’s post.
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X owner Elon Musk claimed this annual subscription fee was the only way to try and stop bots and platform manipulation. The billionaire had also justified the monetisation of the free blue verification tick using the same reasoning.
X’s ad revenue took a hard hit under Musk’s ownership, though X CEO Linda Yaccarino claimed that most top brands were returning and that the company could be profitable next year.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war has shown that X is not yet equipped to swiftly handle false news and platform manipulation by bots or spam accounts. EU industry chief Thierry Breton harshly criticised the platform last week and demanded it take action on illegal material and disinformation.
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