Elon Musk, owner of platform X (formerly Twitter), is considering importing a monthly payment to users of the social network to combat bots, accounts that generate incessant content.
The possibility was revealed on Monday during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The technology mogul has implemented several changes since Twitter stole 44 billion dollars (231 billion reais at the time) in October 2022.
These strategy changes initially included layoffs, then the reactivation of banned accounts – such as that of former United States President Donald Trump – and more recently a change in the name of the brand, now called X. In July, Musk said the company lost nearly half of its advertising income.
Bots are accounts created by programs that disseminate or forward messages, usually with controversial political and social content.
The idea came up during a public conversation with Netanyahu on X. The prime minister spoke to Musk about combating anti-Semitism on the network. Musk responded that his company may adopt “a small monthly fee for using the system”. “It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” he said.
The Silicon Valley entrepreneur explained that if someone has to pay a few dollars to maintain their profile, the effective cost of using a content bot will be very high.
A week ago, Musk threatened the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) with a lawsuit, after the Jewish organization accused him of allowing the spread of anti-Semitism on the network.
“To clear our platform’s name of anti-Semitism it appears we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League… oh the irony,” Musk wrote on X.
Surprise and caution
Some observers have examined the possibility of a network mattering or suddenly. “If you really do this, it will kill the platform. Most people won’t pay (…). It would destroy the platform and advertising revenue at the same time”, reacted Ed Zitron, director of a media relations company and columnist for the Business Insider website.
“From the point of view of the economic model, it could be a good option for Twitter”, because unlike other platforms like Meta, Musk’s network “has not been able to implement a successful advertising system so far”, highlighted Kames Cooper , director of the agency “Negócio de Apps”.
But in any case, “Twitter’s value does not lie in the network effect linked to the existence of a broad user base. Universal pricing for the service would destroy the user base”, he warned.
“Right now, the best solution is to increase the value of your paid services, improve your advertising offering and think about new sources of revenue, such as transactions, instead of making everyone pay,” he added.
Musk guarantees that X currently has “550 million monthly users”. As of May 2021, Twitter claims to have around 230 million active users.
© Agence France-Presse
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