Elon Musk, CEO of X (formerly known as Twitter), recently unveiled a groundbreaking plan to address the escalating problem of bots disseminating antisemitic content on social media.
In a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, X’s CEO shared an idea after Netanyahu confronted Elon Musk about the urgent issue of countering the surge in bots spreading antisemitic content on the former Twitter platform. This issue had grown more measurable and alarming.
Musk tackled the challenge during a live event, acknowledging its complexity by saying, “This problem is exceptionally tough. It motivates us to shift towards implementing a nominal monthly fee for using the X system. It’s the only viable strategy I can see for thwarting the formidable bot armies.”
Expanding on his rationale, Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, highlighted that operating a bot costs only a fraction of a penny. Consequently, even a modest fee would dissuade those orchestrating these bot networks.
At present, Musk’s social media platform offers an “X Premium” subscription option at $8 per month for U.S. users. He suggested that the universal fee would amount to only a “small sum,” implying it would be a few dollars or a similarly modest amount.
“We also plan to introduce lower-tier pricing. Our aim is to keep this cost minimal. From my perspective, it’s our sole defense against the proliferation of bot armies,” Musk asserted.
Nonetheless, mandating that all users pay for their accounts could result in a substantial reduction in the user base, particularly in the short term. Unlike X, other major social media platforms like Meta, TikTok, Telegram, and others do not charge their users.
Moreover, there is no guarantee that Musk’s strategy of pricing bot armies out of the market will prove effective. State-sponsored attackers often operate without financial constraints, in contrast to purely profit-driven attackers.
A recent report by the European Commission observed that X’s relaxation of safety standards inadvertently enabled Russian propaganda to reach a wider audience. The report stated, “Our preliminary analysis suggests that Kremlin-backed accounts have continued to expand their influence and reach in the first half of 2023, largely due to the relaxation of Twitter’s safety standards.”
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