X to begin charging new customers $1 per yr in two nations

If you wish to be part of X, the service previously generally known as Twitter, by way of its web site in New Zealand and the Philippines, be ready to fork over $1 a yr for the privilege.

The subscription, a part of a so-called “Not A Bot” program, is starting in these two nations and is designed to “bolster our already important efforts to cut back spam, manipulation of our platform and bot exercise,” X stated Tuesday in an unsigned submit on its assist heart. As well as, new net customers in New Zealand and the Philippines should confirm their account with a telephone quantity, the submit says. Fortune first reported that Musk was going to cost new customers $1 a yr shortly earlier than X’s announcement went reside.

X’s submit doesn’t clarify why the brand new $1 subscription is just for new customers becoming a member of by way of the online and never the cellular app, or why Not a Bot is barely being rolled out in two nations. A guess can be that X has seen extra bot exercise from these areas than others, and that it’s a lot simpler to create a bunch of faux accounts by way of the web site. “New customers who choose out of subscribing will solely have the ability to take ‘learn solely’ actions,” resembling viewing posts and watching movies, in accordance with the corporate.

This new program is along with X’s most important subscription of $8 a month. Musk has been clear from the start of his Twitter takeover that he thinks charging will impede bot armies, although it’s estimated {that a} very, very small proportion of customers are paying. In the meantime, he has been bragging about how time spent on X has by no means been increased.

Replace October seventeenth, 8:34PM ET: Added submit from Elon Musk.