X To Charge $1 Annual Fee From Users For Posting And Interacting With Content; Here's All You Need To Know

New Delhi: X (formerly Twitter) announced to start testing a new programme called ‘Not a Bot’ from October 17 in order to “reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity” in two countries New Zealand and the Philippines. Under the programme, it will charge $1 annual fee to all unverified users to post and interact with other posts.  

X clarified that existing users are not affected within this tests. It means those who are already using the platform without taking the X premium subscription.

Stating the purpose, X said the “new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. It is not a profit driver.”

The annual fee will be vary depending on the country and currency. It allows new users to able to perform certain actions on the web version of the platform: post content, Like posts, Reply, Repost, and Quote other accounts’ posts and Bookmark posts.

It is expected to roll out the new program globally after the successful conduct of the test. 

Starting today, we're testing a new program (Not A Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines. New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post & interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected.

This… — Support (@Support) October 17, 2023

X said that new users who opt out of subscribing will only be able to take “read only” actions, such as: Read posts, Watch videos, and Follow accounts.

The cost of X premium is around Rs 650 monthly for web version and Rs 900 for Android/iOS. Elon Musk has overhauled the app by rebranding it into X from Twitter and aims to create a superapp where users can watch videos, make payments, listen podcasts, and do live reporting.