Musk's X begins to charge new customers in two Countries

In an experiment aimed at minimizing spam, the social networking platform X, formerly known as Twitter, announced Tuesday that it has begun charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines for basic capabilities like posting messages.

Elon Musk, a tech tycoon who last year paid $44 billion to acquire Twitter, has long complained about the platform's bogus accounts, bots, and spam. He has also made a number of contentious modifications that have drawn harsh criticism from users all over the world.

New users in New Zealand and the Philippines will be required to pay an annual fee under the 'Not A Bot' trial in order to write on X, like and react to posts, and bookmark information.

The company stated on its website that the new tool "aims to defend against bots and spammers who attempt to manipulate the platform and disrupt the experience of other X users."

In a different post on X, it stated, "It is not a profit driver." "So far, subscription options have shown to be the primary scalable solution,"

The strategy, which would cost new customers in the Philippines and New Zealand about $0.75 and $0.85 per year, respectively, will not have an impact on current users, it was claimed.

According to the firm, those who choose not to pay will only be able to browse information and follow accounts on X in read-only mode.

According to NetSafe, a private online safety organization in New Zealand, "Anything that a platform does to protect their users from the harm they might experience is a step in the right direction."

"Those things are potentially useful in trying to reduce harm," the author writes, "whether trying to stop bots from indirectly contacting people who might engage in harmful conversations or taking steps to verify who its users are."

However, this would restrict participation, according to Jonathan de Santos, chair of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

We understand that the program aims to reduce bot usage, but it also appears to be placing the onus of battling false information and disinformation on users, he said.

Musk proposed charging all X users in September, claiming that this was the only way to stop the spam and bots that plague the platform.

But users generally rejected the concept. According to business analysts, it would make X even less desirable to marketers.

After taking over the business, the billionaire fired thousands of employees and came under fire for re-admitting extremists and conspiracy theorists who had been previously barred, which drove away advertisers.

In July, Musk said that X had lost about half of its advertising revenue.

He asserted that 90% of the bots had been eliminated and that practically all marketers had returned a month earlier. — AFP