Elon Musk says new users will need to pay “small fee” to post on Twitter/X

Elon Musk says that new users on Twitter/X will need to pay a “small fee” to combat bots taking over the platform.

Ever since Elon Musk purchased Twitter/X back in 2022, the idea of charging users to use the platform has come up multiple times.

The company implemented a charge of one dollar per year for new users in New Zealand and the Philippines back in October 2023. On April 15, 2024, a change to the website’s policy gained traction on the platform due to speculation that Twitter/X may be expanding the $1 a year cost to more countries.

Elon Musk replied, saying that charging new users is the “only way” to reduce the amount of bots on the platform.

“Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots. Current AI (and troll farms) can pass “are you a bot” with ease,” he said in a post on Twitter/X.

“The onslaught of fake accounts also uses up the available namespace, so many good handles are taken as a result”

Musk cleared up in another post that users will have full, unpaid access to Twitter after three months, however.

Elon hasn’t directly confirmed when, or if, new users will need to pay to use the app but it’s clear that he has an interest in making it happen for new users in every country.