Musk's X tests $1 fee for new users in the Philippines and New Zealand in bid to target spam
Elon Musk’s social media platform X is charging a $1 fee to new users in the Philippines and New Zealand
LONDON — Elon Musk's social media platform X has begun charging a $1 fee to new users in the Philippines and New Zealand, in a test designed to cut down on the spam and fake accounts flourishing on the site formerly known as Twitter.
The company said late Tuesday that it has started trying out the annual subscription method for new and unverified accounts. The program, dubbed Not a Bot, won't apply to existing users.
It's not clear why it only applies to New Zealand and the Philippines or why those countries were chosen.
“This new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount,” the X support account tweeted. “It is not a profit driver.”
Some experts said charging a fee might not do much to stop fake accounts and could even amplify the problem.
If X decides to roll out the $1 fee worldwide, it could be «disastrous» for the platform, said Kolina Koltai, a researcher at the investigative collective Bellingcat who previously worked at Twitter.
“There is nothing to stop a scammer from spending $100 to buy a hundred new bot accounts. In fact, it may even make the platform more bot filled,” she said. “New users to the platform may not be inclined to pay $1 and give their credit card information to X.”
Since Musk bought the company a year ago, he has introduced a slew of changes such as renaming the platform and gutting its workforce — including its content moderation team.
Outside watchdog groups say the changes have allowed misinformation to thrive on the platform, a problem
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