Oct. 20 (UPI) — Elon Musk said Friday that X will soon launch two new premium subscription tiers as the social media company seeks to make up financial losses incurred under his leadership.
Musk announced the new subscription plans in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, but did not provide specific details about cost or when they would become available.
“One is lower cost with all features, but no reduction in ads, and the other is more expensive but has no ads,” he wrote.
The plan comes as X on Wednesday began testing a $1 annual fee for new users in New Zealand and the Philippines to create their own posts and use other features of the platform.
The so-called “Not A Bot” fee allows users who refuse to pay the toll to take only “Read Only” actions such as reading posts, watching videos and following accounts.
The company said the fee was implemented to defend against automated accounts and “spammers who attempt to manipulate the platform and disrupt the experience of X users.”
Musk said in July that X has “a heavy debt load” with negative cash flow and had experienced a 50% drop in revenue.
In an early effort to draw revenue to the company, Musk launched an $8 monthly “verified” subscription — originally priced at $19.99 per month — that grants users a blue checkmark badge on their profile and elevates the visibility of their posts.
Last month, X announced that it would collect biometric and employment information from verified subscribers to provide further proof of identity and facilitate a planned expansion of job-finding features on the platform.
A new report called “Pay To Play” from U.S.-based watchdog organization NewsGuard Friday said verified accounts on X are responsible for spreading the bulk of misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war.
The changes to the verification system have been blamed for increased difficulty in regards to identifying legitimate businesses, public figures or news organizations, which then forced the platform to implement grey and gold checkmark badges for certain high-profile accounts.
However, earlier this week, X reportedly removed the gold badge from the main account belonging to The New York Times without notice.
X is also battling a disinformation problem after cutting half the staff in North America working to block disinformation under Musk and faces an investigation from the European Union over its response to disinformation surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict.
