Elon Musk Wants Everyone to Pay Subscription Fees For X
X CEO, Elon Musk, hinted at the possibility of implementing a mandatory paywall for all users on the platform during a recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
With approximately 550 million monthly users curating around 200 million posts per day, X, formerly known as Twitter, has already transformed into something else entirely since Musk purchased the company in October 2022.
The idea behind introducing a paywall, according to Musk, is to deter the proliferation of automated accounts or bots, which have been a persistent problem on X. Musk argued that setting up bots currently costs only a fraction of a penny, making it easy for bad actors to create and deploy them.
To counter this, Musk suggested that increasing the cost of an X account to “a few dollars or something” could act as a deterrent to bot operators. He further emphasized that requiring a new payment method for each new bot creation would add another layer of complexity for those attempting to abuse the platform.
“Decline in Ad Revenue”
Currently, X only charges users for its subscription service, X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue), which gives paying subscribers an automatic verified blue checkmark for just $11/month in the United States. As part of the initial stages of Twitter’s rebranding, Musk enabled users to hide their paid for blue check marks as part of the perks to subscribing to Twitter Blue.
The irony in Musk’s “benevolent solution” to do away with these bots is that it simply opens up an additional, inescapable revenue stream for he and X, which has been the underlying motivation behind every “new” change the platform has continued to implement.
In early August, X began its distribution payouts under its Subscriptions monetization mechanism, where users began sharing screenshots of their first advertising payouts from the platform – initially ranging from $50 to $12,000+.
Users who want to take advantage of Subscriptions, must be subscribed to X Premium to earn monthly income from the content they create, in addition to meeting other criteria beyond their blue check mark.
The idea of introducing a paywall comes as X faces a decline in its advertising revenue, which has historically been its primary source of income. According to Musk, X has seen a 60% decrease as a result, which remains in question.
Musk’s Battle With the Anti-Defamation League
Musk has attributed this “decline” to an advertiser boycott, prompted by concerns over his leadership and the platform’s handling of inappropriate or hateful content, specifically attributing the decline to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
He has since gone on the offensive against anyone who has attempted to challenge his leadership and his apparent departure from a “free speech platform” and towards an extremely biased and emotional soundboard for the X CEO that has continued to welcome hate speech, including anti-semitism.
Earlier this month, Musk filed a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization committed to fighting anti-semitism, extremism, and bigotry. He accused the ADL as having been “trying to kill [X] by falsely accusing it and [him] of being anti-Semitic.”
At the same time, Musk was called out for liking X posts with the hashtag #BanTheADL,” which was trending for at least one week.
The discussion with Netanyahu, initially focused on technology and artificial intelligence, quickly shifted towards issues of free speech and antisemitism on X.
Netanyahu expressed hope that Musk would find a way to address antisemitism and hate speech on the platform while respecting the principles of the First Amendment.
“I encourage you and urge you to find the balance,” Netanyahu said, acknowledging the complexities of moderating content on a platform that values free speech.
Musk has previously expressed his stance as being “pro-free speech but against antisemitism of any kind” on X – yet, every action he has continued to take or behavior he has chosen to condone, blatantly contradicts that position.
As of press time, Musk has not yet confirmed whether X would implement a charging policy for all users.
Editor’s note: This article was written by an nft now staff member in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-3.5.