Elon Musk starts charging new X’s users in the Philippines
The X, formerly known as Twitter announced on Oct. 17 that they started charging the new users in the Philippines and as well in New Zealand.
Social media site X charges the new users to use the basic features of its “Not a Bot” subscription method.
For X new users
New users will have an annual fee of 42.51 pesos. This is a requirement for them to post content, like, reply, and interact with other users.
Take note, that this is for new users who sign up on the web version.
The platform owned by Elon Musk stated that its “Not a Bot” subscription method must “bolster” existing efforts for reducing spam and manipulation of the social media platform.
The new users created using web browser are the only limit of the subscription plan. Those who create an account through a mobile application are out of the charge.
For the new users who pay the annual fee, they will be able to post content, like, reply, repost, quote, and bookmark the post. This is exclusive to the web version. On the other side, the users who decline to pay will only have access to a “read-only” version of X. They will only read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts.
“This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount,” said the announcement.
It requires verification of their phone number. It is for created accounts using web versions in the country and in New Zealand.
On the contrary, the existing users of the platform in the mentioned countries will not be affected.
However, Musk did not explain the choice of these countries but based on several studies the disinformation and use of bots as online manipulation is rampant in the Philippines.
