Will You Need to Pay to Tweet? Elon Musk Eyeing Fee For New Users

New users of X, which is popularly known as Twitter, will have to pay to tweet, company CEO Elon Musk said on Monday.

"Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots," Musk said in a post on Monday even as he kept sharing memes and tweeting about Tesla's sweeping layoffs. "Current AI (and troll farms) can pass 'are you a bot' with ease."

X has faced significant challenges with bots. Twitter bots, which are automated accounts managed by software or content farms, mimic regular users by tweeting, liking, and following others. While some bots serve useful purposes such as sharing news or offering customer service, others engage in malicious activities like spamming or disseminating misinformation and fake news.

The Tesla boss also pointed out that a lot of users are not getting good usernames. "The onslaught of fake accounts also uses up the available namespace, so many good handles are taken as a result," he said to a user's post.

As per a report from 9to5Mac, a code discovered in X indicates an upcoming change.

"Subscribe to unlock the ability to post and engage. New unverified users are required to pay a small annual fee before you're able to perform any write actions on web, including posting, liking, bookmarking, and replying. This is to reduce bots and spam to make the experience better for everyone. You can still follow accounts and browse X for free," reads the code.

Will this be applicable to existing users?

Well, the existing users are unlikely to be charged, at least at this stage. The upcoming change is expected to apply solely to new users, who will be required to pay a nominal fee. Earlier reports indicated that the company might charge as low as $1 (approximately Rs 85) per year.