Elon Musk admitted the possibility that in the foreseeable future access to the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, will be provided to users on a paid basis.
During a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the owner of the virtual platform said that the payment system is the only way to resist bots. Separately, the billionaire said that the company is gradually moving to a small monthly fee for access to the social network, without specifying the details of this decision. Representatives of X did not respond to a media request for information about that reported by Elon Musk.
Some journalists believe that the billionaire’s statement could have been a spontaneous comment, but at the same time do not deny the likelihood that this is reliable evidence of the future intentions of the social network. In favor of the fact that what Elon Musk said is not random words, autonomous in relation to corporate policy X, but a reflection of real plans, is evidenced by the fact that the owner of the virtual platform, before talking with the Prime Minister of Israel, repeatedly said that his vision of an effective fight against bots and fake accounts provides for the use of such a measure, as a practice of charging for verification.
The billionaire became the owner of Twitter, which is currently called X, last year. Since then, he has repeatedly tried to motivate users to pay for an expanded service. Measures of achieving the corresponding purpose provided for the provision of additional functions to paid subscribers, including longer publications and increased visibility on the virtual platform. But currently, there is still the possibility of free access to X.
The company has a clear commercial interest in introducing the practice of providing the opportunity to interact with a virtual platform, subject to prior payment. At the same time, Elon Musk focuses on the fact that paid access should be regarded as an effort to combat bots.
The billionaire says that creating a bot does not require significant costs, but measures to counter such programs, which can be implemented at the expense of users, will provoke additional expenses for those involved in generating so-called chat robots.
The cost of an X Premium subscription in the United States is currently $8 per month. The price differs depending on the country. Elon Musk says that the company is currently considering the possibility of introducing cheaper tariff plans. He noted that it would be an insignificant amount of money. The billionaire also said that something like a discussion could form in the context of this issue, but stressed that, in his opinion, there are no other ways to protect against a huge number of bots.
According to experts, the decision on paid access for all users contains a risk, which is that many against the background of such a change in the corporate policy of the social network may refuse any interaction with the virtual platform. If this scenario is implemented, the company’s revenue level resulting from the placement of advertising materials in X will decrease. This source of receiving money is one of the main ones for the social network. This means that paid access can cause a reduction in the revenue of the virtual platform.
During the conversation between Elon Musk and the Prime Minister of Israel, the issue of the dissemination on X semantic constructions that contain ideas of anti-Semitism was also raised. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) campaign group has charged the virtual platform with insufficient measures to combat publications that promote the aforementioned misanthropic beliefs. This organization claims that Elon Musk had experience with anti-Semites and perceives them positively.
In September, the billionaire announced his intention to sue ADL in order, as he said, to clear the name of the platform. During a conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk noted that he is not a supporter of anti-Semitism. The Israeli Prime Minister said that the balance between freedom of speech and content moderation is a difficult task, but urged the billionaire to ensure the right ratio in this matter.
As we have reported earlier, X Now Has Seven State Licenses For Payments Including Crypto.
