New users on ‘X’ to start paying $1 annual fee 

Elon Musk’s social networking site, X, said it has started a new program that will require new, unverified accounts to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post and interact with other posts. 

The company said the program is now being tested in New Zealand and the Philippines in preparation for its global rollout. 

This, however, is not going to affect unverified existing users on the platform.  

X noted that new users who opt out of subscribing at the signup stage will only be able to take “read-only” actions, such as reading posts, watching videos, and following accounts.

At signup, new users will be able to select from subscription options of $1 fee,  X Premium, or Verified Organizations. 

Despite strong moves by Elon Musk to turn its $44 billion acquisition into a profit-making company, X said the new program was not motivated by profit but to fight spam. 

Elon Musk first hinted at the possibility of charging a fee to use X last month during a live-streamed conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. While he did not say the exact amount at that time, Musk was planning a monthly subscription. 

 The $1 annual fee came as a better offer compared with the “small monthly payment of a few dollars” earlier announced by Musk.  

 In response to Netanyahu’s concern that most views being expressed on X are mostly from an ‘army of bots’ Musk said: