Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced his intention to charge a monthly fee for all users of the service. Musk said that this move would help combat the problem of bots, or automated accounts, that spread misinformation and hate speech on the platform.
Musk made the statement in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Tesla offices in California on Monday. He said that bots cost “a fraction of a penny” to set up, and that raising the cost of an account to “a few dollars or something” would deter bot operators from creating multiple accounts. He also said that each account would require a new payment method, making it harder to track and trace bot activity.
NOW: Elon indicates he wants to charge ALL users to use Twitter.
Yes or No – Are you willing to pay Elon?
Don’t hold back!! pic.twitter.com/9MQuz05hxz
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) September 19, 2023
However, Musk did not provide specific information about how much the monthly fee would cost users or what additional features would be included in the subscription at the lowest tier.
Musk claimed that this was the “single most important reason” to shift to monthly payments, and that it would also improve the quality of the content on X. He said that X currently has 550 million monthly users generating up to 200 million posts a day.
Netanyahu, who questioned Musk about antisemitism and hate speech on the platform, urged him to find a balance between free speech and preventing the amplification of hateful messages. He said that he hoped Musk would use his technological expertise to clamp down on antisemitism and other forms of hatred on X.
Musk, who has been in a conflict with the Jewish civil rights group, the Anti-Defamation League, over his leadership of the platform and its management of inappropriate or hateful content, said that he was “pro-free speech, but against antisemitism of any kind”. He said that it was difficult to “police” the posts on X in advance, but that he could take steps to de-amplify hate speech.
