New users of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, will have to pay to tweet, according to Elon Musk.
“Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots,” Musk said Monday in between posting memes and tweeting about Tesla’s sweeping layoffs. “Current AI (and troll farms) can pass ‘are you a bot’ with ease.”
The change in policy was first flagged by an automated account designed to track changes to X’s website, before being confirmed by Musk. The company had experimented with charging a $1 annual subscription fee for users in the Philippines and New Zealand to be able to post and interact with other users on X.
The “Not-a-Bot” terms and conditions page was included in the changes flagged by the automated account. The new policy states that new accounts must pay a “small annual fee” before being able to post, like, bookmark, or reply to other tweets. However, new accounts will be able to follow other accounts and browse the platform for free.
A representative for X did not immediately return Quartz’s request for comment.
The new policy comes as X faces backlash over its inability to stop the flood of spam accounts that link to pornographic content and fake products. Earlier this month, Musk kicked off a “system purge” of bot and troll accounts on the platform, although it’s unclear how successful the effort was.
X has failed to limit bots before, despite Musk’s declaration that “we will defeat the spam bots or die trying” before he bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022.
The new fee is also likely a push by X to make some cash as the company continues to lose value. The social media giant has shed at least 71% of its value since Musk acquired it, according to mutual fund giant Fidelity.
Dozens of advertisers—including Comcast, Apple, and The Walt Disney Company—pulled their spending on X last November after reports that their companies’ ads were appearing next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech. The company lost $1.5 billion in ad revenue in 2023 because of the onslaught of departures. Musk later told advertisers to “go f[*]ck [themselves]” during an interview with the New York Times.
DoubleVerify, which provides brand-safety measurement ratings for digital platforms to major advertisers, apologized last week for incorrectly displaying X’s Brand Safety Rate for nearly five months. The rating measures how frequently ads appear beside content that met advertiser-approved metrics.
From Oct. 24, 2023, to March 14, DoubleVerify’s dashboard provided incorrect data. In some cases, the firm showed scores as low as 70%. However, X’s actual rates were 99.99%, according to DoubleVerify.