Elon Musk is reportedly planning to charge new X users a small fee to post on the platform, a move he believes would combat the proliferation of bots.
In a reply to a post on X, Musk tweeted that charging new users a small fee is the only way to mitigate the onslaught of bots on the platform.
He wrote,
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“Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots. Current AI (and troll farms) can pass “are you a bot” with ease”.
He added that the onslaught of fake accounts also uses up the available namespace, which sees so many good handles taken as a result.
This statement by Musk suggests that X might be expanding its policy to charge new users to post on the platform.
In response to Musk’s proposition to charge new users a small fee, several users on the platform have faulted such a plan, with some stating that it is going kill the platform’s user base.
@Kinocopter wrote,
“This is stupid just require a phone number for new account signups. You already block VOIP numbers for Premium, so block them for new accounts too.”
@TweetyPS3 wrote,
“Again there are so much better ways than just saying “they have to pay” It’ll eventually be exploited, do new account restrictions and ban AI bot creators from getting a blue checkmark or have to pay for a gold checkmark and API access.”
@mirrorinspace wrote,
“Just charging the countries with the highest number of online scammers/spammers, first, will be the most efficient method. And again, effective AI to moderate X in the future would be a game changer for moderation all over the net.”
It is interesting to note that Musk has been battling with bots on X, since he acquired the microblogging platform (formerly Twitter) in October 2022 for a $44 billion deal.
Months after Elon Musk made a move to acquire X, the Tesla chief executive said that he was terminating the deal over the social media firm’s inability to provide him with accurate information about the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Musk stated that Twitter’s refusal to provide all the information he requested violated part of the deal’s agreement, as it is necessary for the company’s business performance.
After going ahead to acquire the company, Musk disclosed via a post that he would do everything possible to defeat the presence of spam bots or die trying.
Ever since, he has implemented several strategies to address the presence of Bots on the platform. In April 2023, Musk announced that only verified accounts would be eligible to be in “For You” recommendations.
This according to him is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. He added that voting in polls will require verification for the same reason.