Musk X Begins Charging Some New Users For Basic Features

The social media application X, formerly known as Twitter, announced Tuesday that it has started charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines to use basic features like posting messages.

X said in a statement that its new subscription method should “bolster” existing efforts to reduce spam and “manipulation of our platform and bot activity.”

Under the trial, new web users in the Philippines and New Zealand will have to pay X around $0.75 and $0.85, respectively, annually, in order to access basic functionality like posting on the site.

Those who decline to pay the nominal fee will only have access to a “read-only” version of the platform, limiting them to reading posts, watching videos and following accounts, the company added.

“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,” it further said.

Existing users in these countries are not affected.