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Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, said on Tuesday it will test a new subscription model under which it will charge $1 (roughly Rs. 83) annual fee for basic features.
The new subscription termed as “Not A Bot” will charge users for likes, reposts or quoting other accounts’ posts, and bookmarking posts on the web version of the platform.
The purpose of introducing the new subscription model is to combat bots and spammers, X said, adding that the fee will vary from country to country based on the exchange rate.
X said the new method will be first available for users in New Zealand and Philippines.
Within this test, existing users are not affected. But new users who would not wish to subscribe will only be able to view and read posts, watch videos and follow accounts.
Bots have been a contentious issue for Elon Musk who acquired the company last year. In July, X had introduced a limit on viewing tweets, “to ensure the authenticity” of its user base.
Earlier this month, Reuters had reported citing a source that X CEO Linda Yaccarino met with X’s lenders, in which she had said the company would test three tiers of its subscription service based on the number of ads shown to the user.
Back in August, Musk said that X would remove a protective feature that lets users block other accounts. The block function on X allows a user to restrict specific accounts from contacting them, seeing their posts or following them. “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs,” Musk said in a post on the platform, referring to direct messages. He said X would retain the mute function, which screens a user from seeing specified accounts but, unlike blocking, does not alert the other account to the action.
© Thomson Reuters 2023