X introduces $1/year fee charge to new users

Elon Musk has kicked off his plan to charge users of X, formerly known as Twitter, to post content to the social network.

X said in a post on its website that it has started testing “Not A Bot,” a new subscription tier for new users. However, new users in the Philippines and New Zealand are the first to be asked for an annual payment in the latest change to the platform.

The “Not a Bot” subscription plan will cost $1 annually, according to X (adding that prices vary by country and currency). New users on X on the plan will be able to “perform certain actions on the web version of the platform: post content, Like posts, Reply, Repost and Quote other accounts’ posts, Bookmark posts.”

Read also: Elon Musk’s X introduces paywalls to TweetDeck

New X users who do not pay the $1/year fee will only be able to take “read-only” actions, such as: read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts, according to X.

On Tuesday, in a post on X, Musk said the platform going forward will be free to read, “but $1/year to write. It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users. This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform.”