Elon Musk stated that X, formerly Twitter, users will likely be charged a “small monthly payment” in the future.
The Washington Examiner reported Musk discussed the subject Monday while livestreaming a talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu described concerns regarding online bots designed to post anti-semitic content and promote hate speech.
Musk then explained the importance of charging a small monthly fee to ensure that users are actually people.
He said, “The single most important reason we’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system is it’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots.”
Bots do not have credit cards, so charging a fee would eliminate the fake accounts. However, the platform has been free since its creation.
The change would be unlike other platforms that do not have monthly fees despite the online bot problem.
Concerns over bots held up his Twitter takeover before transforming the social media company to the platform X because he held concerns regarding how many bots were active on the site, per Wired.
During the purchase of the company, Musk was told that Twitter had less than 5% bot accounts, but when reviewing the situation with his own strategy he found that up to 20% of accounts may have been bots.
This has been an ongoing issue being that Musk has also committed to free speech.
Just Sunday, he criticized the mainstream media for suppressing free speech noting, “How did most of the legacy media go from superheroes of free speech to supervillains of speech suppression?”
How did most of the legacy media go from superheroes of free speech to supervillains of speech suppression?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2023
During the recent discussion, the Washington Examiner also noted that Netanyahu expressed an understanding of Musk’s position on free speech, bot accounts, and hate speech.
He stated, “I know your commitment to free speech, and I know you’re opposed to antisemitism.”
“I hope you find within the confines of the First Amendment a way to try to roll it back. … I encourage you to find the balance. It’s a tough one,” he added