Elon Musk Says New X Users Will Soon Have to Pay to Post on the Platform X tested the initiative in New Zealand and the Philippines to combat the platform's bot problem.

By Emily Rella

Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.

Elon Musk is continuing his upheaval of the platform formerly known as Twitter.

On Monday, X's owner said that the platform will start charging new users to post in an attempt to get rid of bot and spam accounts.

In response to an X post that claimed Musk was initially testing the new policy to "improve the experience for users overall," Musk replied that initiating a "small fee" was the "only way" to get rid of bots on the platform.

He also alleged that new AI technology has the capability of surpassing prompts that are meant to curb bots.

In a second post, Musk responded to a user concerned that charging new users would make the platform less "special," Musk clarified that the pay plan would be short-lived — new users would only have to pay the fee for three months before they could post freely.

Musk did not elaborate on how much the fee would be nor when it is set to be implemented. It remains unclear whether or not Musk's comments this week mean that users worldwide will face the fee or if the company will be testing it in select markets.

Related: Elon Musk Says X 'May Fail' Amid Competition, Ad Losses

Last October, Musk began charging all non-verified users in the Philippines and New Zealand a $1 fee to post as a part of X's "Not a Bot" subscription model.

Users who agreed to the policy and paid the fee were able to continue posting as they wished on the platform, while those who opted out were placed in a "view-only" account mode that does not permit posting or re-posting but allows users to read posts, watch videos, and follow new accounts.

At the time, X did not say when, if ever, the policy would roll out to other countries.

Related: Elon Musk's X Will Starting Charging Unverified Users $1 to Post on the Platform
Emily Rella

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at BIZ Experiences.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

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