Elon Musk has proposed that the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, may require payment from all users to access. Elon Musk has hinted that all users of X, formerly known as Twitter, would have to pay a price to access the service.
The billionaire claimed that a payment system was the only way to combat bots in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO announced that “we’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system.”
The media outlet contacted X for more information, but the business has not yet released a statement.
It’s unclear if this was merely an off-the-cuff remark or an indication of more concrete plans that have not yet been made public.
Mr. Musk has previously stated that his plan to remove bots and false accounts from the social media platform involves charging for. The majority shareholder of X claims that this is the only method to eliminate bots. Elon Musk was revisiting an idea that was reportedly broached in secret in the past, so the concept is not wholly new.
For premium members, X has added voluntary ID verification. However, the service is only accessible to US-based premium subscribers. It now appears that the platform wants to make verification necessary.
It is obvious that the corporation has financial motivations for charging customers. Mr. Musk emphasised that charging for the service is the only way to combat bots.
This has been accomplished by providing paying subscribers with more benefits, such as longer postings and greater platform prominence.
Users can still use X for free for now, though.
Despite the company’s obvious financial incentive to charge customers, Mr. Musk claimed that the goal of charging consumers is to combat bots.
Making a bot only costs pennies, he claimed. “However, the effective cost to bots is very high if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount.”
In the US, X Premium now costs $8 (£6.50) a month. Depending on the nation a subscriber is in, the price varies.
However, there is a chance that by placing X behind a barrier, it will lose a significant portion of its users. The company’s primary source of income at the moment, advertising revenue, could consequently decline.
Antisemitism on X came up in Mr. Musk’s chat with the Israeli prime minister.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) campaign group has criticised the platform of not doing enough to halt antisemitic content.
The group claimed that Mr. Musk was “engaging with and elevating” antisemites in a statement.
He stated earlier this month that the business would file a lawsuit against the ADL to “clear our platform’s name.”
Mr. Musk reaffirmed that he was “against antisemitism” in his conversation with Mr. Netanyahu.
Mr. Netanyahu said that striking the correct balance between free expression and content restriction was difficult, but he urged Mr. Musk to succeed.
He continued, “I hope you find the ability to halt not only antisemitism… but any collective hatred of individuals that antisemitism represents within the bounds of the First Amendment.
I am aware of your commitment to that, Mr. Netanyahu continued.
