Elon Musk, the billionaire in the tech industry, stated that eventually, all users will be required to pay for accessing his troubled platform X.
During an online discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Mr. Musk announced that X would be transitioning to a payment system where users would make small monthly payments. He explained that this change was implemented to address the issue of bots.
“He stated that it is the sole method he can conceive to counter extensive bot armies. Although a bot may only cost a small fraction, let’s say one-tenth, of a penny, the actual cost of bots becomes significantly higher even if they have to pay a few dollars or more.”
Mr. Musk did not provide further details regarding the new subscription plan, including its release date and cost.
Last year, after Mr. Musk took control of what was then known as Twitter, he floated the idea of putting all of Twitter behind a paywall. That plan changed significantly and became Twitter Blue, now X Premium.
Users can pay $8 a month, or $84 a year, for X Premium which gives them access to features including longer posts, the ability to edit posts and prioritized rankings in replies.
The change has not been well-received. According to an estimate, only 827,000 out of Twitter’s more than 500 million users have subscribed to X Premium.
The move could be another plan to pull back revenue for the site after advertisers left in droves last year. While Mr. Musk has maintained that most advertisers have returned, other reports have shown that X has failed to recoup much of what was lost.
