Elon Musk owned popular social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, continues to make headlines as it has decided to charge users for basic features. The process has begun in New Zealand and Philippines, with the platform charging new users for features like posting messages.
As per the new trial, new web users located in Philippines would pay $0.75, and those in New Zealand would pay around $0.85 yearly to allow the access to basic functions, including posting on X.
X, in its statement, said that users who decline to pay the nominal fee will be limited to a ‘read-only’ version in which they can only read posts, watch videos and follow accounts. It added that the small fee amount would balance platform accessibility and evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help combat bots and spammers.
Note that already existing users Philippines and New Zealand do not have to pay any fee so far.
The multi-billionaire tech celebrity Elon Musk, in his statement, said that the new subscription method would excel in the efforts to reduce spam, bot activity, and manipulation of platforms. Since he acquired Twitter last year for $44 billion, Musk has made several controversial changes to the management and product of the social media firm.
His recent idea of charging all users a nominal fee aimed to tackle fake accounts but has drawn sharp criticism from users across the globe.