X rolls out testing for $1 yearly subscription to join the platform

New users of the Elon Musk-owned social media site X in two countries will now be required to pay a small amount annually to post on the platform.

X unveiled its new paid “Not A Bot” beta program Tuesday evening in New Zealand and the Philippines. In those two countries, people have to pay an annual fee to post comments. 

The company priced the test subscription at $1 per year, so it will cost $1.43 NZD in New Zealand and ₱42.51 PHP in the Philippines. It also involves mandatory phone number verification.

In the two countries, those “opting out of subscribing will only be able to take “read only” actions like reading posts, watching videos and following accounts,” X said on its Help Center. There won’t be a charge for existing account holders. 

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Posting, liking, replying and other capabilities on the web version of the site will require the membership payment, according to the platform.

With the test, X said it “aims to defend against bots and spammers who attempt to manipulate the platform and disrupt the experience of other X users.”

Musk, who acquired X nearly a year ago and served as its CEO for roughly seven months, also weighed in on the plan, saying it “won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform.”

The beta subscription program “is not a profit driver,” X said in a post.

In the terms and conditions for the test, the social media platform said users “seeking write-level functionality may choose either the Program [Not A Bot] Or an X Premium tier.” 

X Premium makes a number of features available for $8 a month. Those include a blue checkmark, an edit button, a 25,000-character limit, text formatting and more, according to the company.

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It also has verified organizations for businesses, nonprofits and governments. That subscription comes with gold or grey check marks, depending on the type of organization. 

Information related to the results of the New Zealand and Philippines subscription test will come “soon,” according to X.

In late July, Musk suggested the platform’s total number of monthly users came in over 540 million, calling that a “new high” at the time.

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X will be profitable by early next year, the company’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, projected late last month at a conference. She described the platform’s operating cash flow as “just about break-even,” FOX Business previously reported.

Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.