Photo credit: Elon Musk

In a move to ‘combat spam, manipulation, and bot activity’ on its platform, X has introduced a program called "Not A Bot" in New Zealand and the Philippines.

Starting from October 17th, 2023, new users in these countries are required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to access certain features and interact with other posts on the platform. Existing users remain unaffected by this change.

The new program involves a two-step verification process for new accounts in these countries. Users are required to verify their phone numbers. Following successful verification, users can select a subscription plan.

For $1 USD per year (prices vary by country and currency), users gain access to various actions on the web version of the platform, including posting content, liking posts, replying, reposting, and quoting other accounts’ posts.

Those who choose not to subscribe will be limited to "read-only" actions, allowing them to read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts.

X claims this move aims to maintain platform accessibility while deterring bots and spammers from manipulating the X experience for genuine users.

The pricing for the "Not A Bot" program is set at $1.43 NZD per year in New Zealand and ₱42.51 PHP per year in the Philippines.