SILICON VALLEY, CALIFORNIA: X has always been available for free but it appears that if users choose not to upgrade, they may soon lose access.
X boss Elon Musk has suggested he will charge individuals to use the platform, formerly called Twitter, because it is the "only way to protect against bot accounts."
During a recent conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tech tycoon Musk suggested that payments might be implemented in the future. However, Internet and social media users were not very pleased with his suggestion.
What did Elon Musk suggest about charging Twitter users?
According to the platform's billionaire owner, users will have to make a "small monthly payment," per Daily Mail.
In a live-streamed meeting with Netanyahu, Musk suggested, "I'd say the single most important reason we're moving towards having a small monthly payment for use of the X system is that it's the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots."
As per Musk, the only way to reduce the number of bots that continue to plague the social media platform is to charge its users.
"A bot costs a fraction of a penny, but if somebody has to pay a few dollars or something... you have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot," Musk added.
"Prioritizing posts that are written by X premium subscribers, we're actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. We want it to be a small amount of money."
There is no information as to whether this was merely an impromptu comment or if platform pricing are indeed on the way. However, Musk is accustomed to implementing changes.
He has already changed Twitter's name to the letter X and added a paid service, making it the only method to obtain the well-known Blue Tick.
The Tesla CEO further explained, "It's a longer discussion, but in my view this is the only defense against vast armies of bots. As the AI gets really good it's getting better at passing the captcha tests than humans."
The Tesla owner further declined to talk on the topic of anti-Semitism on X when Netanyahu brought it up during their meeting in Silicon Valley, California.
Fans unhappy over Elon Musk 'making the excuse to charge people'
One X follower expressed disappointment over Musk's suggestion of charging people and wrote on the platform, "Bad move @elonmusk,& making the excuse to charge people to use this platform saying it will combat the bots is ridiculous,and you will lose tons of users which will make advertisers go elsewhere,& eventually put X out of business!!"
A second X user explained, "Who didn't see this coming? I'm guessing that #ElonMusk has decided that not enough people are paying $8 a month, so charging everyone else a small fee is the answer. He might as well change the name again, to Elon's Fan Club Forum. Only they will be left".
A third one exclaimed, "Now Elon Musk says he will CHARGE people to use X because it's the 'only way to protect against bot accounts' dominating the platform formerly known as Twitter. It Would Be The Death Of Twitter! People Would Move To GAB?"
Another one noted, "Elon Musk played it well so far. Tested the water with the blue tickers. They went for it like a moth to a flame. Now he's rolling it out for everyone. He wants to charge people to use X. But even a dollar is too much for millions in the current climate. Bad move I reckon."
"Now Elon Musk says he will CHARGE people to use X Well I can’t pay for using social media. A charge is going to cut a lot of us off. I communicate with many people on here and it has been a pleasure and an honour to do so. My love to you guys," wrote someone else.
Another user exclaimed, "@elonmusk If you charge a #Fee for all #X / #twitter users I can 100% #guarentee I will #NEVER use this platform again. You will completely eliminate your user base in poorer regions also. If you want to make people have to use ID and a #Selfie #Verification fine. #ElonMusk #Musk"
