Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Musk answered a range of questions relating to SpaceX projects during his appearance at the conference.
The new $1 annual fee for new, unverified X users has been announced by Elon Musk. Many users were disappointed with this decision, saying that the platform is just getting worse and worse.
If you are in the Philippines or New Zealand, here's what you need to know about the controversial "Not a Bot" program of X.
New, Unverified X Users Now Need to Pay $1
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Elon Musk announced that new users in the Philippines and New Zealand need to comply with the $1 annual fee.
"Starting today, we're testing a new program (Not A Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines," said the billionaire via his official X announcement.
"New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post & interact with other posts," he added.
Digital Trends reported that the new Not a Bot program will only affect new X users in the mentioned countries. This means that existing accounts will be excluded.
Elon Musk explained that the new Not a Bot program is a new effort to improve the social media platform's "already successful efforts to reduce spam.
The billionaire claimed that this in-app change will prevent the ongoing manipulations on the platform, especially the bot activities. He added that the new X program will also help balance the social media app's accessibility.
But, to do this, new users must pay the $1 annual fee. For Musk, this is a small price to pay to improve the platform. This is why he said that the $1 fee is not a profit driver.
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X Users Outraged by New $1 Annual Fee
This illustration photo taken on July 24, 2023 shows the Twitter bird logo upside down in the background of Elon Musk's screen advertising an "X" as a replacement logo, in Los Angeles. Elon Musk killed off the Twitter logo on July 24, 2023, replacing the world-recognized blue bird with a white X.
X Help Center clarified that the new, unverified X users are not required to pay the $1 annual fee. However, if they don't do so, they can only follow accounts, read posts, and watch videos.
Because of this restriction, new X accounts that opt out of subscribing will not be able to like posts, reply, repost, quote other posts, bookmark posts, or even post their own content.
In the comment section of Elon Musk's announcement, many netizens were outraged by the new Not a Bot program. Some of them criticized the platform's decision, saying that the new program will not help reduce bots since most fake accounts are verified.
Others said that the program's goals are promising. However, it is quite unfair for new X users. Meanwhile, others concluded that the new Not a Bot program completely makes the platform not free anymore.
These are just some of the comments made by disappointed X users. You can click here to see more.
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