X to Test a Yearly Fee , for Unverified Accounts.
On Oct. 17, X announced a pilot program
called "Not a Bot," CNN reports.
The program will require new X users in
New Zealand and the Philippines to pay
a $1 yearly fee to use the platform.
The fee will only apply to new web accounts and
will be waived if users subscribe to the premium subscription service, which costs $3.99 per month. .
Users can opt out of either fee, but will then only
be able to read posts, not interact with them.
Existing users will not be affected by the change.
According to X, the program is intended to "bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation
of our platform and bot activity, while balancing
platform accessibility with the small fee amount.".
However, some experts say that bad actors are willing to pay subscription fees to maintain inauthentic accounts.
Such entities could also pay to have an account verified and then let a bot run it, CNN reports.
Over the past week, X has been scrutinized for allegedly allowing misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war to be posted.
The platform says that it has reportedly removed "hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts.".
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said that "X is… addressing identified fake and manipulated content during this constantly evolving and shifting crisis," CNN reports