Yet another novelty for the social network X, formerly Twitter. On the platform could soon be implemented “a small monthly payment” for all users, its owner Elon Musk said this Monday, September 19, emphasizing the need to reduce the number of robots on the platform.
The “tech” mogul has made many changes since taking over the network for $44 billion in October last year, when it was known as Twitter.
Thousands of employees laid off
It laid off thousands of employees, introduced a paid option, removed content moderation and reinstated formerly banned accounts, including that of former US President Donald Trump.
In July, he said the platform had lost about half of its advertising revenue. Bots – accounts run by computer programs rather than humans – are common on X, where they can be used to artificially amplify political messages or fan the flames of racial hatred.
During an interview with Elon Musk on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue of anti-Semitism online and how X could “prevent the use of robots – armies of robots – to reproduce it and ‘amplify”. Elon Musk responded that the company was “moving toward a small monthly payment for using System X.”
“It’s the only way I can think of to fight vast armies of robots,” he said. “Because a robot costs a fraction of a cent – call it a tenth of a cent – but if someone has to pay even a few dollars, a minor amount, the effective cost of robots is very high. “And then you also have to have a new payment method every time you have a new bot.”
A dispute with the ADL
The conversation, which was broadcast on
Musk accused the ADL of making unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism that scared away advertisers and hurt his company’s revenue, and threatened to sue it for billions of dollars.