Elon Musk, CEO of social network X, formerly known as Twitter, has suggested that new users would have to pay a fee or tax before they could engage in activities such as posting, liking, replying or reposting.
Is X/Twitter Becoming a Pay Service?
Speculation about X's revised pricing policy comes from Musk's response to a tweet from X Daily News, a media outlet specialising in social network news. Specifically, the tweet referred to changes to the platform's terms of use, citing additions that indicate new accounts must now pay a small annual fee before they can post, like, bookmark or reply.
This pricing policy has been discovered through the diligent work of a robot dedicated to automatically monitoring code changes on X's websites and applications. The discovery fuelled speculation, leading to the X Daily News tweet, to which Musk responded.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2024
An Attempt to Control Bot Invasion
When he talks about a "relentless onslaught of bots", Mr Musk refers to the growing difficulties faced by online platforms in effectively managing and moderating the automated actions of bots.
Such bots can be used to spam the platform, manipulate discussions and artificially boost the popularity of messages, thereby creating trends, swaying public opinion and influencing key political concerns.
However, traditional measures such as CAPTCHA are no longer appropriate, as today's artificial intelligence (AI) technologies often allow bots to easily bypass them. By introducing a fee, the aim is to add a financial barrier to deter bot operators from registering en masse on the platform.
The Future of X/Twitter
Nowadays, AI technologies have proved capable of bypassing traditional security measures such as CAPTCHA. This has led to an increase in automated actions on platforms, leading to spamming and manipulation of discussions. So, can a financial barrier be a greater deterrent?
Introducing a user fee could have far-reaching consequences. On one hand, it could deter bot operators from abusing the platform. On the other hand, it could potentially alienate new users who are not prepared to pay to use the platform. The impact of this measure remains to be seen.
So, will X/Twitter become a paid-for platform? The answer remains uncertain, but the speculation has certainly stirred the waters of the online world. Whether this potential change comes to fruition could redefine the dynamics of social media and set a precedent for other platforms facing similar challenges.