The chief executive officer of the social media platform, X, Elon Musk has said that new users will start paying to post.
Musk said this on Monday while reacting to a post about the X policy on new accounts, adding that it is the only remedy to combat the issue of bots on the platform.
The American billionaire said the increase in fake accounts has filled the available space for usernames, leading to the scarcity of many good handles.
“Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots,” Musk said.
“Current AI (and troll farms) can pass “are you a bot” with ease.
“The onslaught of fake accounts also uses up the available namespace, so many good handles are taken as a result.”
Reacting to another X account on the new policy, Musk said new users will be able to post for free after three months.
Last year, X commenced charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines $1 per year to access key features, which include the ability to tweet, retweet, like posts and reply to posts.
The social media platform said the objective is to “reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity”.
In another development, Musk, on April 4, disclosed the plan to clean the X of bot accounts and trolls was underway and would lead to the suspension of legitimate accounts.
He added that the social media platform would also trace the people responsible and make them face the wrath of the law over violation.
