Elon Musk Proposes Fees on X to Combat Bots

New users of the social network X may soon face fees for posting as a measure to counter fake accounts. This proposal was put forward by the platform’s owner, Elon Musk. 

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.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2024

“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 [security system] Are You Bot with ease,” the billionaire wrote. 

In October 2023, the social network began testing account creation for $1 for residents of New Zealand and the Philippines. Musk plans to extend this practice to all other users. 

On-chain investigator ZachXBT expressed skepticism about the results of such an initiative. 

Not sure I agree this will bring the results you think it will. There are hundreds of business verified scam accounts every week which scammers pay thousands of dollars for. pic.twitter.com/C7GMj0Zavq

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 15, 2024

“Every week, hundreds of verified scam accounts appear, for which scammers pay thousands of dollars,” he noted.

According to him, there is a whole black market where criminals can obtain a verified account with a “checkmark.” 

A user under the pseudonym Ansem noted that Musk “vastly underestimates” the number of X users who fall victim to scams daily. 

you vastly underestimate how many of your users are scammed on a daily basis on this platform which is why you think this small fee is an actual hurdle

these scammers are printing infinite daily they do not give af about paying pennies to make 5 figs+

— Ansem ??️ (@blknoiz06) April 15, 2024

“You guys need a few more employees who are active and experienced users of this site. They will tell you what actually makes sense to implement, as [your ideas] are on the verge of incompetence,” added the community member. 

DeFi analyst Ignas suggested that Musk simply wants to make money rather than solve the problem. 

You are speaking sense but @elonmusk probably just wants to cash the cow and not really solve the problem.

More subscriptions -> more revenue. And bots generate a lot of sub fees for him.

— Ignas | DeFi Research (@DefiIgnas) April 15, 2024

“More subscriptions — more revenue. And bots generate a lot of additional fees,” he explained. 

Previously, the owner of X had already announced plans to make the platform paid for all users. According to him, the social network plans to charge a small monthly fee.

Earlier, Musk’s previous initiative to rid X of bots through an $8 monthly subscription did not yield significant results. Research by dappGambl showed that about 10% of followers of popular cryptocurrency accounts are still fake.