Say what you want about Elon Musk, but he probably knows what he’s doing.
He has recently disclosed that X will require a small subscription fee in the future, as a means of combating bots. He says the monthly fee will be small, but will make it unfeasible to operate large-scale bot operations. Even if bad actors are willing to pay, they would need a new payment method for each bot.
550 millions users… let’s say 300 million are willing pay $3 per month = $900 million a month in new revenue.
Charging a monthly fee is a good move. It will thin the herd and make X a more meaningful platform to those who truly use it. Additionally the reduced reliance upon advertising will allow the company to allow truly free speech.
Free speech doesn’t mean hate speech, or dangerous rhetoric. The classic example is that you can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater as a prank. The ensuing panic would be dangerous and distressing.
Free speech has reasonable limits. Who decides what those limits are? Common sense decides.
The news about the fees has been public for a while now.
More concerning is the type of data that X plans to collect about its users. This includes biometric data. The company says that this is referring to facial features for security verification purposes. However the privacy policy does not limit the type of biometric data. It could silently scan your iris through your phone’s camera for example.
They also want to record your education and employment history for the purpose of matching with potential employers. This steps into LinkedIn’s territory and is presumably another revenue stream they are exploring.
Will people willingly share their personal data? On one hand, if you don’t share it, you could miss out on opportunities. On the other, you would be giving it to Elon Musk.