Elon Musk: Social media platform X, previously Twitter, may go behind paywall

Elon Musk has recommended that each one customers of X, previously referred to as Twitter, could should pay for access to the platform.

In a dialog with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the billionaire mentioned a fee system was the one method to counter bots.

“We’re transferring to having a small month-to-month fee to be used of the system,” the Tesla and SpaceX boss mentioned.

The BBC approached X for additional particulars however has not but obtained a press release from the corporate.

It is unclear whether or not this was simply a casual remark, or a sign of firmer plans which have but to be introduced.

Mr Musk has lengthy mentioned that his answer for eliminating bots and pretend accounts on the social media platform is charging for verification.

Since taking up Twitter final 12 months he has regarded to incentivise customers to pay for an enhanced service, which is now referred to as X Premium.

This has been performed by giving paid subscribers extra options, like longer posts and elevated visibility on the platform.

However, customers can at the moment nonetheless use X without cost.

Although there’s a clear monetary curiosity for the corporate to cost customers, Mr Musk insisted that getting individuals to pay for the service is geared toward tackling bots.

“A bot prices a fraction of a penny” to make he mentioned. “But if any person even has to pay a number of {dollars} or one thing, some minor quantity, the efficient cost to bots may be very excessive”.

X Premium at the moment prices $8 (£6.50) a month within the US. The worth differs relying on which nation a subscriber is in.

The world’s richest particular person mentioned that he was now cheaper choices for customers.

“We’re really going to give you a decrease tier pricing. So we simply need it to be only a small quantity of money,” he mentioned.

“This is an extended dialogue, however for my part, that is really the one defence towards huge armies of bots,” Mr Musk added.

However, a danger is that by placing X behind a paywall it could lose a big chunk of its customers. That in flip, may drive down promoting income, which at the moment accounts for the overwhelming majority of the corporate’s revenue.

Mr Musk’s dialog with the Israeli prime minister additionally touched on antisemitism on X.

The platform has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) marketing campaign group of not doing sufficient to cease antisemitic content material.

In a press release, the organisation mentioned that Mr Musk was “participating with and elevating” antisemites.

Earlier this month, he mentioned that the corporate would sue the ADL to “clear our platform’s title”.

In the dialog with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Musk reiterated that he was “towards antisemitism”.

Mr Netanyahu accepted the stability between free speech and content material moderation was a problem however urged Mr Musk to get the stability proper.

“I hope you discover throughout the confines of the First Amendment, the power to cease not solely antisemitism… however any collective hatred of folks that antisemitism represents,” he mentioned.

“I do know you are dedicated to that”, Mr Netanyahu added.