Social Media Platform X Introduces User Charges in New Zealand and The Philippines

In an unexpected turn of events, the social media platform X, new affiliate of billionaire Elon Musk's robust portfolio, initiated its subscription-based model in the Philippines and New Zealand. The move was announced on Tuesday, ushering in a new way this virtual social space would operate.

The new model will require fresh users to pay a nominal annual fee of around $0.75 and $0.85 respectively, to X for access to fundamental functionalities such as posting messages on the platform. The measure is designed to strengthen existing systems aimed at reducing spam, manipulation and bot activity on the social space.

Failure to make the modest payment will limit users to reading posts, viewing videos and following accounts through a "read only" version of the platform, as detailed in the company's announcement. Extensive emphasis has been placed on the wedding out of bot activities, which the company hopes to achieve through this initiative.

Established users from these countries will still enjoy the previous model's privileges for now. Since Musk, in his typical high-risk business approach, purchased the social media site, then known as Twitter, in 2022 for a whopping $44bn, he has implemented numerous controversial changes.

One of his recently proposed ideas was to begin charging all users worldwide a nominal fee to help manage the influx of fake accounts. However, such a notion drew forth a substantial backlash from users globally.