Elon Musk has hinted at the possibility of X, previously recognized as Twitter, contemplating the introduction of fees for all users as a means to combat the nuisance of automated accounts, commonly referred to as bots. The owner of X believes that implementing a paywall around the platform could address this issue.
During a discussion with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the world’s wealthiest individual, implied that X, formerly Twitter, might be planning to implement charges for its entire user community. At present, Twitter only imposes fees on users who opt for its subscription service, X Premium, which provides benefits such as a verified account checkmark. In the United States, X Premium costs $11 per month for iPhones, while in the United Kingdom, it is priced at £11 per month.
“We’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system,” Musk said. Saying that bots cost “a fraction of a penny” to set up, Musk added that raising the cost of an account to “a few dollars or something” could put off operators of the software. He added: “Plus, every time a bot creator wanted to make another bot, they would need another new payment method.”
Elon Musk, known for his tendency to make spontaneous remarks, did not provide a definite confirmation regarding whether X would ultimately implement a charging policy. X has been reached out to for additional comments on the matter. Musk also disclosed that X currently boasts 550 million monthly users who generate as many as 200 million posts each day. Previously, the platform had assessed its user base using a different metric, known as monetizable daily active users, which numbered 238 million prior to Musk’s acquisition of the platform in October 2022.
Musk has raised the possibility of implementing a paywall as the platform grapples with a persistent decline in its primary source of revenue—advertising. He has noted that a significant drop in ad revenue, approximately 60%, resulted from an advertiser boycott, prompted by concerns surrounding his leadership of the platform and its handling of inappropriate or hateful content.
While Musk’s conversation with Netanyahu was initially framed as a discussion on technology and artificial intelligence, it quickly shifted toward the topics of free speech and antisemitism. This shift came amid allegations that X was not taking sufficient action to address racist speech on the platform.
Netanyahu expressed his hope that Musk could identify ways, within the boundaries of the First Amendment, to address issues related to antisemitism and other forms of hatred on X.
