The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is rolling out a new program called Not A Bot in New Zealand and the Philippines. This comes as the platform and its owner Elon Musk continues its supposed fight against spam bot accounts.
This Not A Bot program will now require all new, unverified accounts to sign up for a USD1 annual subscription fee if these users want to post or interact with others on the platform. X says that existing users however will not be affected by the Not A Bot program. Those looking to sign up for an X account in New Zealand and the Philippines will now have to first verify their phone number, and then choose from three subscription tiers: Not A Bot for USD1/year, X Premium or the Verified Organisation plan. If you don’t get at least one of those plans, you’ll still be able to use X, but on a read-only basis, losing features like replying, reposting, quoting, bookmarking and liking posts.
Correct, read for free, but $1/year to write. It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2023
This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform.
According to X, the Not A Bot pilot program was developed as the latest step in their apparently successful efforts to reduce spam and bot activity on the platform while balancing platform accessibility, and also claims that it’s not a profit driver. The company did not however explain why they chose the Philippines or New Zealand however. They also highlighted the specific pricing for Not A Bot in New Zealand and the Philippines, which after conversion comes to:
- New Zealand: NZD1.43/year
- Philippines: PHP42.51/year
It’s terms and conditions page though does say that you’ll be able to sign up for X and subsequently pay for the Not A Bot program via its iOS and Android apps, as well as X on web. X also says that the Not A Bot program can be modified, paused or discontinued at any time with no refunds, before going on to clarify that X Premium is a wholly separate subscription service with more features; you won’t have to sign up for both Not A Bot and X Premium if you want the blue checkmark.
