It"s now looking more and more likely that X (formerly Twitter) will soon make new users who want to post messages on the social network pay a fee for that privilege worldwide.
You may remember that back in October 2023, X began testing such a fee in the Philippines, where it charged 42.51 PHP (0.75 USD) per year to let users post messages and add other features. It also added a similar fee in New Zealand, where those residents pay $1.43 NZD (0.84 USD) per year to X.
Today, in response to a question about changes to X"s website that mention fees for new users to post, X owner Elon Musk wrote that such a cost "is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots" on the service.
Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2024
Current AI (and troll farms) can pass “are you a bot” with ease.
Musk also stated that AI and troll farms can pass the current bot detection methods "with ease" In a follow-up post, he pointed out that these bots can also claim names on the service that should go to others, adding that " . . . so many good handles are taken as a result."
In yet another post, Musk stated that those new X users would be able to post messages, and presumably do more on the service "for free after 3 months" This would seem to suggest that new users would be able to set up an account for free, view messages, but not post until three months afterward without paying.
Unfortunately, we still don"t know when X plans to pull the trigger on these small fees for new users to post, nor how small they will actually be.