Elon Musk Announces Upcoming Implementation of ‘Modest Monthly Fee’ for X Users

In a live-streamed discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk, the owner of X, revealed his intention to implement a “modest monthly payment” for all users of the social media platform. This announcement suggests that X may soon cease to be a free platform, as Musk aims to address the persistent issue of bots plaguing the network.

Musk emphasized the necessity of this move to combat the proliferation of bot accounts, stating, “It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots.” He explained that bots are cost-efficient, with an estimated cost of less than a tenth of a penny per bot. By introducing a nominal fee for users, even if it’s just a few dollars, the effective cost of deploying bots on the platform would become prohibitively high.

This idea of charging all X users is not entirely new, as Musk had previously floated the concept last year. Currently, the company charges $8 per month for X Premium users, offering them benefits such as the ability to edit posts, reduced advertisement exposure, longer post capabilities, and prioritized rankings in search results and conversations.

During the interactive session, Musk revealed that X currently boasts 550 million monthly users, who collectively generate between 100 and 200 million posts each day. However, he did not disclose the number of subscribers currently paying for the platform.

In its most recent public earnings report for the first quarter of 2022, Twitter mentioned having 229 million monetizable daily active users (mDAUs). As Musk explores the introduction of monthly fees for all X users, it remains to be seen how this shift will impact the platform’s user base and dynamics.