Elon Musk is continuing his rampage on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
On Monday, X's owner said the platform will start charging new users to post in an effort 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 in general,” Musk responded that starting a “small fee” was the “only way” to get rid of the bots on the platform.
Unfortunately, a small entry fee for new users writing is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.
Current AI (and troll farms) can easily pass “are you a bot”.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2024
He also claimed that the new AI technology has the ability to overcome the demands intended to restrain the robots.
In a second post, Musk responded to a user concerned that charging new users would make the platform less “special”, Musk clarified that the payment plan would be short-lived – new users would have to pay the fee for only three months before he could post freely.
This is much more difficult than paying a small fee.
This is for new users only. They will be able to do free writing actions after 3 months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2024
Musk did not provide details on how much the fee will be or when it will be implemented. It remains unclear whether Musk's comments this week mean users worldwide will face the fee or whether the company will test it in select markets.
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Last OctoberMusk began charging all unverified users in the Philippines and New Zealand a $1 fee to post as 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 allow posting or re-posting, but allows users to read posts. , to watch videos and follow new accounts.
At the time, X did not say when, if ever, the policy would be extended to other countries.
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