Elon Musk, the owner of the online platform X (formerly Twitter), announced on Monday his consideration of implementing a monthly fee for all users to combat the issue of bots on the platform. Since acquiring X for $44 billion in October last year, Musk has enacted significant changes, including employee layoffs, the introduction of a premium paid option, reduced content moderation, and the reinstatement of banned accounts, including that of former US President Donald Trump.
In July, Musk revealed that X had experienced a substantial decline in advertising revenue. The platform has been plagued by bots—automated accounts operated by computer programs instead of humans—that are frequently used to artificially amplify political messages and promote hate speech.
During a conversation with Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised concerns about online anti-Semitism and how X could prevent the use of bot armies to spread and amplify it. Musk proposed the idea of introducing a modest monthly fee for X users as an effective means to deter bots. He explained that even a small fee significantly increases the cost of operating bots, and creating new payment methods for each bot would further discourage their use.
This discussion was broadcast on X and coincides with Elon Musk’s ongoing dispute with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a US-based Jewish organization. Musk has accused the ADL of making baseless anti-Semitism allegations that have driven advertisers away and negatively impacted his company’s revenue, leading to threats of legal action for billions of dollars.
