Musk’s X Tests $1 Fee For New Users In The Philippines And New Zealand In Bid To Target Spam

LONDON—X, the social media platform founded by Elon Musk, has implemented a $1 registration charge for new users in the Philippines and New Zealand. This trial initiative is intended to mitigate the proliferation of spam and fake accounts on Twitter.

The organization announced late Tuesday that it has commenced testing the annual subscription model for unverified and new accounts. The Not a Bot program will not apply to existing users.

It needs to be clarified why it only applies to New Zealand and the Philippines or why those nations were selected.

The X support account tweeted, “This new test was developed to supplement our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform, and bot activity, while maintaining platform accessibility for the nominal fee.” “It does not generate profits.”

Some specialists believe that charging a charge may not be an effective deterrent against fake accounts and may even exacerbate the issue.

A $1 global rollout by X could be “catastrophic” for the platform, according to Kolina Koltai, a former Twitter employee and researcher at the investigative collective Bellingcat.

“There is nothing that could prevent a scammer from purchasing one hundred new bot accounts for $100.” She stated, “In fact, it might even increase the number of bots on the platform.” “Inexperienced platform users might not be inclined to provide X with their credit card information and pay $1.”

X, the social media platform founded by Elon Musk, has implemented a $1 registration charge for new users in the Philippines and New Zealand.

Elon Musk has implemented numerous changes at the company since acquiring it a year ago. These include redesigning the platform’s name and significantly reducing personnel, including the content moderation team.

According to external watchdog organizations, the platform has become a breeding ground for misinformation; this problem erupted immediately following the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Musk had previously implemented premium subscriptions as a revenue-boosting strategy for the financially troubled platform.

One of his initial product initiatives was to disrupt the website’s blue check verification system by selling a monthly service that issued checks to individuals willing to pay $8. A few days after its debut, the service was temporarily suspended due to an influx of counterfeit accounts.

Koltai noted that the $8 program has deterred neither spam accounts nor algorithms. Additionally, scholars note that blue-check service subscribers can receive compensation for their viral postings, thereby establishing a monetary motivation to publish content that elicits the greatest response.

New subscribers will be granted minimal access privileges in exchange for $1. These privileges include publishing content, liking or bookmarking posts, and reposting, quoting, or replying to posts from other accounts.

New users who do not subscribe will only be able to view videos, follow other accounts, and read posts, according to the platform.

SOURCE – (AP)