Elon Musk hints at potential charges for all X (formerly Twitter) users.

The billionaire notes the platform has 550 million monthly users and up to 200 million daily posts.

Elon Musk has suggested that X, formerly recognized as Twitter, is considering the possibility of introducing charges for all users to utilize the platform. The proprietor of X has conveyed that introducing a payment barrier might function as a preventive measure against the issue of bots, a matter of concern for Musk.

In a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the world’s wealthiest individual, indicated that X might explore the option of introducing fees for its user base. Currently, Twitter only imposes charges on users for its subscription service, X Premium, priced at $11 per month in the US for iPhones and £11 in the UK, offering benefits like a verified account badge.

Musk highlighted that the low cost of setting up bots, just “a fraction of a penny,” is a concern, and he suggested that increasing the account cost to “a few dollars or something” could discourage bot operators. He also mentioned the potential requirement for a new payment method each time a bot creator wanted to generate another bot.

While Musk, known for his impromptu statements, did not confirm X’s commitment to a charging policy, additional inquiries have been directed to X for clarification.

Musk revealed that X currently boasts 550 million monthly users generating up to 200 million daily posts. Notably, the platform had previously measured its user base differently, counting 238 million monetizable daily active users before Musk’s acquisition in October 2022.

The consideration of a paywall comes as X faces a sustained decline in advertising, its primary revenue source, with Musk attributing a 60% drop in ad revenue to an advertiser boycott. This boycott was driven by concerns surrounding Musk’s platform leadership and its management of inappropriate or hateful content.

While the meeting with Netanyahu initially focused on technology and artificial intelligence, it swiftly shifted to address topics related to free speech and antisemitism. This shift occurred amid allegations that X was not taking adequate measures to combat racist speech on the platform. Netanyahu expressed his hope that Musk, within the confines of the First Amendment, would find ways to address antisemitism and other forms of hatred on X.