In response to a post detailing updates on X’s website, Musk declared that charging new users a nominal fee is essential to combat the surge of bots. He explained that modern AI and troll farms can effortlessly bypass standard tests like CAPTCHA, designed to verify if a user is human. He further clarified (replying to another user on X) that new accounts will be able to post without a fee after 3 months. Musk did not provide details on when or how the fee system would be implemented. However, Forbes suggests that the fee mentioned by Musk is similar to the “Not a Bot” program used in New Zealand and the Philippines. Last October, X began charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines $1 per year. Initially, these users could only read posts and not interact with them. To engage fully — by posting, liking, reposting, replying, bookmarking, and quoting — they had to pay the fee. So, this announcement could just be a broadening of the measures already in place in New Zealand and the Phillippines. The announcement about the new user fee comes shortly after X announced removing bots from the platform earlier this month. Musk warned that those behind the bot accounts would face serious legal consequences. This “small fee” looks like a “big component” of Musk’s broader efforts to eliminate bots from X.
