Elon Musk, the CEO of X, intends to charge new users for tweets on the platform to curtail an ongoing problem of bots promoting cryptocurrency scams.
“Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to stem the relentless onslaught of bots,” X Daily News owner Elon Musk stated on April 15 in response to a post about testing a spam reduction policy.
As stated in the announcement, X may broaden its policy by imposing fees on new users for accessing fundamental features like posting, replying, preferring, or bookmarking.
Present-day AI and “troll farms” can easily circumvent security measures such as CAPTCHA, according to Musk.
Musk has continuously struggled against trolls since acquiring Twitter in October 2022 for a substantial $44 billion.
According to him, the onslaught of fake accounts “also consumes the available namespace, which results in the theft of numerous good handles.”
In October, experimental versions of a comparable policy were already in effect in the Philippines and New Zealand. The ‘Not A Bot’ subscription mechanism for new users in those two countries required a $1 payment to access additional features.
“While complete prevention of bot activity remains elusive, the platform will become one thousand times more difficult to manipulate,” Musk stated.
Others contend that the prospective new charges will continue the onslaught of bots.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT was one of many who expressed dissent towards the approach, stating:
“There are hundreds of business verified scam accounts every week which scammers pay thousands of dollars for.”
Using a screenshot, he accessed a dubious verified Wormhole X account disseminating fraudulent airdrop links.
Before continuing, he stated, “There is an entire black market for these accounts,” which will “kill new user growth.”
“Roxo,” a member of the Meta Mint team, stated, “The problem is not the creation of new accounts; rather, X staff are completely incapable of removing fake accounts.” Roxo further noted that most bot and fraudulent accounts were created years ago.
At the end of March, Elon Musk announced that accounts containing 2,500 verified subscribers or followers would be exempt from paying for “Premium” features. Cointelegraph reported that the ability to purchase the platform’s verification status may have provided fraudsters an opportunity.
X declared the launch of a “significant, proactive initiative to eliminate accounts that violate our rules against platform manipulation and spam” earlier this month.
