All users of X, formerly known as Twitter, may have to pay a fee to access the platform, according to Elon Musk.
The billionaire stated that a payment system was the only way to combat bots in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system,” the Tesla and SpaceX boss said.
It’s unclear whether this was merely an off-the-cuff remark or an indication of more concrete plans that have not yet been made public.
Mr. Musk has long claimed that charging for verification is the best way to get rid of bots and fake accounts on the social media platform.
Since assuming control of Twitter last year, he has sought to persuade users to pay for an upgraded service, which is now referred to as X Premium.
Longer posts and greater platform visibility have been made available to paid subscribers as additional features to help achieve this.
Users can still use X for free right now, though.
Mr. Musk insisted that getting people to pay for the service is intended to combat bots, despite the fact that charging users has a clear financial benefit for the company.
“A bot costs a fraction of a penny” to make he said. “But if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount, the effective cost to bots is very high”.
X Premium currently costs $8 (£6.50) per month in the US. According to the country a subscriber is in, the cost varies.
The richest man in the world stated that he was now considering more affordable options for customers.
“We’re actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. So we just want it to be just a small amount of money,” he said.
“This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defence against vast armies of bots,” Mr Musk added.
It runs the risk of losing a significant portion of its users by placing X behind a paywall. The company’s current primary source of income, advertising revenue, could consequently decline as a result.
Antisemitism on X was another topic Mr. Musk discussed with the Israeli prime minister.
The platform has been charged with failing to do enough to halt antisemitic content by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) advocacy group.
The group claimed in a statement that Mr. Musk was “engaging with and elevating” antisemites.
He stated earlier this month that the business would sue the ADL to “clear our platform’s name”.
Mr. Musk reaffirmed his opposition to antisemitism during the conversation with Mr. Netanyahu.
While acknowledging that striking the right balance between free speech and content moderation is difficult, Mr. Netanyahu urged Mr. Musk to do so.
“I hope you find within the confines of the First Amendment, the ability to stop not only antisemitism… but any collective hatred of people that antisemitism represents,” he said.
“I know you’re committed to that”, Mr Netanyahu added.
Source-BBC
