It seems that serial entrepreneur and founder of electric car giant Tesla, Elon Musk, has found a new method to combat the bot problem on his short messaging service X (formerly Twitter). According to “Heise online.” Musk announced that New users will soon have to pay for the right to publish. But it remains questionable whether the measure will be successful.
Elon Musk's idea is not new. In autumn 2023, the billionaire had already discussed the introduction of a payment barrier and noted that it was the only solution to curb the activities of automated accounts, the so-called “bot armies”. As the report indicates, Musk believes that the usual tests that people use to identify themselves as such can be easily circumvented by current artificial intelligence technology and “troll farms.”
X earns a dollar a month in New Zealand
The implementation of Musk's plans has already begun. A test conducted in New Zealand and the Philippines showed that new accounts on X cost about a dollar a month. Non-paying users can only read posts, watch videos, or follow other accounts. Elon Musk now plans to expand these regulations.
But the idea meets considerable resistance. Cybersecurity expert Marcus Hutchins expressed doubt that a paywall would effectively restrict bot activities. He maintains that “spammers are using stolen credit cards and the cost of chargebacks will be greater than subscription revenue.” This means that the measure
There are more concerns. Since Musk's acquisition, X's advertising revenue has fallen sharply and many companies have limited or stopped advertising altogether. Musk plans to turn the short messaging service into an all-in-one app to generate more revenue, but its success is questionable. Furthermore, the introduction of a paywall could also lead users to switch to alternative short message services.
Twitter in trouble since Elon Musk took over
In 2022, Elon Musk took over the old Twitter and renamed it “X.” In November 2022, the company converted from a public company to a private company. The shares disappeared from the stock exchanges.
However, Musk's commitment has not inspired the company at all. In 2023, Twitter's revenue was around $3.4 billion. In 2021, sales were $5.08 billion and in 2022, $4.4 billion.