Oct 20 (Reuters) – Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will be launching two additional levels of premium subscriptions in the near future, as stated by Elon Musk on Friday.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“One of the options will have a low price with all the features but without any ads, and the other option will be more expensive but also ad-free,” Musk mentioned in a post on X.
Musk, who assumed control of the platform in October 2022, aims to boost revenue by charging users and enticing advertisers back, after many advertisers stopped purchasing ads due to Musk firing most of the staff and dismantling content moderation teams.
Musk has acknowledged that the platform has experienced a decline in revenue and has accused activists of exerting pressure on advertisers.
Although he did not disclose further details about the subscription plans, a recent test conducted by X earlier this week indicated various limitations for users who opt not to pay for the service.
X recently initiated a trial where new users in New Zealand and the Philippines are required to pay $1 for access to the platform.
Illustration of the social media platform Twitter after its rebranding on July 24, 2023
The company stated in its announcement that users who decline to subscribe will be limited to “read-only” actions such as reading posts, watching videos, and following accounts. Website,
The platform’s “Not a Bot” membership method aims to reduce spam, platform manipulation, and bot activity.
Other major tech companies have also experimented with a combination of ad-supported and subscription plans. While YouTube, owned by Alphabet (GOOGL.O), offers both paid and free, ad-supported plans, Netflix’s (NFLX.O) ad-supported plans are also chargeable, albeit at a lower price point.
YouTube, which hosts content from users like X, shares a portion of its subscription revenue with creators. X, which also shares some of its advertising revenue with content creators, has not disclosed whether creators will be compensated under the ad-supported membership model.
To generate revenue, Musk introduced a Blue Check subscription service priced at $8 per month and offered businesses a discount to advertise on the platform.
However, due to criticism regarding inadequate content moderation, advertisers were hesitant to have their ads displayed alongside inappropriate content.
Last week, the European Commission initiated an investigation into X to determine its compliance with new technical regulations concerning illegal and harmful content, which emerged following the dissemination of misinformation on the platform during Hamas attacks on Israel.
Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru and Supanth Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing by Savio D’Souza, Jason Neely, and Susan Fenton
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