X’s ‘Not a Bot’ Program Charges Newcomers $1 a Year

Would you pay $1 a year to use Twitter?

The social media platform, now calling itself X, is hoping new users will say “yes” as it attempts to ferret out bots. The company’s “Not a Bot” program, announced Tuesday (Oct. 17), includes a subscription component for new members in New Zealand and the Philippines.

“This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity,” the company said in its announcement.

“This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. Within this test, existing users are not affected.”

The two-step process requires new accounts to verify their phone number and choose a subscription plan. The $1 yearly fee lets them post content, like posts, reply, repost, quote and bookmark posts.

Newcomers who choose not to subscribe will get a “read only” version of the platform, where they can follow accounts, read posts and view videos but not interact.

The news follows reports from earlier in the month that X was considering dividing its $7.99 per month premium plan into Basic, Standard and Plus variations, allowing it to charge customers different amounts based on the number of ads they see.

Bots have been a sore point for X owner Elon Musk since he purchased the company, saying last month the platform was plagued with “vast armies” of fake accounts.

He proposed the idea of a small monthly payment for the use of the X system during a livestream conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As PYMNTS wrote, the aim is to curb bot use by making it more cumbersome and unaffordable to deploy them on the platform.

Though Musk did not disclose the exact cost or features of the new plan, he said the platform is “moving to have a small monthly payment for use of the X system.”

X’s bot battle is happening as other social media platforms are considering paid subscriptions as well. For example, Meta is floating a paid, ad-free version of its Instagram and Facebook platforms in Europe to comply with new regulations. European users would pay about 13 euros ($14) a month for Facebook and about $6 a month for Instagram.