New users of X (formerly Twitter) in New Zealand and the Philippines will now need to pay an annual fee of $1 to tweet, retweet, and comment, according to a statement from owner Elon Musk.
This measure is aimed at reducing spam, manipulation, and bot activity on the platform.
“Starting today, we’re testing a new programme (Not A Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines. New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post and interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected,” the statement read in part.
It further read, “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. And so far, subscription options have proven to be the main solution that works at scale.”
Existing users will not be affected by this change. Those who choose not to subscribe will have read-only access to the platform, and nothing more.
“New users who opt out of subscribing will only be able to take “read only” actions, such as read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts.”
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who acquired Twitter for $44 billion last year, has been implementing various changes to the social media app, including introducing a paid verification badge, enabling publishers to charge for their content, and instituting two-factor authentication for users with blue badges.
The company rebranded to X earlier this year, and Musk revealed a new X logo to replace the traditional bird logo associated with Twitter. This move is part of the broader transformation and evolution of the platform.