Is Elon Musk thinking of making X a paid site? Billionaire feels monthly payment can fix bot armies

During his recent interaction with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk said that making the platform paid was the best way to deal with bot armies.

Elon Musk gestures as he attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023. (Image: Reuters)

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Is X (formerly known as Twitter) turning into a paid site? Well, this could be true soon. Elon Musk has reportedly floated the idea that his social network, X may no longer be a free-for-all site. This revelation came to the fore during his interaction with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.

During the interaction, Musk reportedly said that X was ‘moving to a small monthly payment’ to use the system. He said that this change was necessary to counter the problem of rampant bots on the platform. “It’s the only way I can think of combatting vast armies of bots,” Musk was quoted as saying during the interaction.

He reasoned that a bot cost a fraction of a penny and that if they had to pay a few dollars then their effective cost could be high. Musk added that each time a bot creator wanted to add another bot, they would require a new payment method. While the billionaire technocrat did not reveal how much it would cost, he, however, described it as a ‘small amount of money’.

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Also Read | Israel’s Netanyahu urges Musk to balance free speech, fighting hate on X

Netanyahu and Musk also discussed the need to strike a balance between protecting free expression and combating hate speech. This was a crucial talk point weeks after a controversy over antisemitic content erupted on the X platform. The duo also discussed ways to harness the rapid developments in AI along with containing its risks to society.

The Tesla boss also revealed new metrics related to X. He said that the site has over 550 million monthly active users at present, who contribute nearly 100 to 200 million posts each day. Even though Musk’s latest statement on making the platform paid led to a debate, the technocrat has not revealed when such change will be implemented.

Also Read | Elon Musk says X will strip ability to block accounts

Musk has brought swift changes after his takeover of the platform. As of now, the X Premium costs around $8 per month and $84 for annual subscription. Premium subscriptions on X have access to features such as edit posts, reduced ads, the ability to compose long posts, prioritised ranking on search and conversations, etc.

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Elon Musk