X breaks away from Twitter’s free-for-all rules, starts charging $1 per year

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

Elon Musk recently announced plans to charge all X (formerly Twitter) users a nominal fee to use the platform, and now, implementation is underway. X is testing a $1 per year subscription fee that will allow new users to post on the platform.

Called the “Not a Bot” program, the new subscription method is going live in two countries — New Zealand and the Philippines.

“This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform, and bot activity. This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X,” The platform wrote in a help center post explaining the experiment.

Existing X users won’t be affected by the test. So, if you already have an X account in the two test countries, you won’t be required to pay the $1/year fee. It’s unclear if those are the same terms that will remain when X rolls out the paid-for-all subscription more widely.

New accounts created in New Zealand and the Philippines must first verify their phone numbers. They will then get options to select from three subscription tiers — the $1/year Not-a-Bot plan, X Premium, and the Verified Organizations plan. Folks who choose the first option will be able to perform specific actions on the platform’s web version: post content, like posts, reply, repost, quote other posts, and bookmark posts.

New users who don’t subscribe to the Not-a-Bot plan will only be able to read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts. Users will be able to cancel their Not-a-Bot Program subscription at any time.