Pay To Keep The Bots Away: Here Is Why Elon Musk Wants To Charge A Fee On New X Users
Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, may soon begin charging new users "a small fee" for posting content and liking, replying, and bookmarking tweets. Billionaire Elon Musk, who owns X suggested this as a move to keep a check on bots on the platform.
Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, may soon begin charging new users "a small fee" for posting content and liking, replying, and bookmarking tweets.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who owns X suggested this as a move to keep a check on bots on the platform.
REUTERS
AI can pass bot tests
"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," Musk said.
Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.
¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2024
Current AI (and troll farms) can pass ¡°are you a bot¡± with ease.
Pay only for three months
However, when a user pointed out that "Part of what makes X special is that anyone can just post without paying," Musk responded by saying "This is only for new users. They will be able to do write actions for free after 3 months.
It is still unclear whether the new norms will be rolled out in select locations or worldwide or how much Musk plans to charge new users.
AFP
Musk's fight against bots on Twitter
It should be noted that this is not the first time Musk has raised the issue of bots on the platform.
In fact, Musk had threatened to pull out of his proposal to buy the platform, then called Twitter, over his disagreement with its management on the number of bot accounts on it.
Musk had argued that the best way to deal with bot armies on the platform is by charging a ¡°small amount of money.¡±
Why Musk hates bots
He said that a bot costs only a fraction of a penny and their running cost can go high if X starts charging a few dollars. Also, if the bot operator wanted to create another bot account, they will have to resort to a new payment method every time.
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Earlier this month, Musk had said that a ¡°system purge¡± of bots and trolls was underway and X and that the company would trace the people responsible for such accounts and bring ¡°the full force of the law to bear upon them.¡±
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