arstechnica ,
@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

So much for free speech on X; Musk confirms new users must soon pay to post

The fee, likely $1, is aimed at stopping “relentless” bots, Musk said.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/so-much-for-free-speech-on-x-musk-confirms-new-users-must-soon-pay-to-post/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

qhstone ,
@qhstone@mstdn.social avatar

@arstechnica Musk isn’t trying to ban bots, he’s trying to monetize them. After all, most of his personal followers are bots. You can see it every time he posts: replies with gibberish, or a few preprogrammed words, or just emojis.

b3n ,
@b3n@g0v.social avatar

@arstechnica the bot thing is bs, he has proven for a long long time he doesn’t care. If Musk wants to build Twitter into a super app, he needs people to add their credit card details to the service. This is not the dumbest way to achieve that… but it comes at a price for growth. Looks more like desperation to me, but let’s see.

h0m3 ,
@h0m3@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica He bought twitter but didnt want to. His mission is to now torture its user base. Its just a troll at thr helm...

goku12 ,
@goku12@fosstodon.org avatar

@arstechnica I don't think he meant that 'free'. Oh! Wait... I don't think he meant the other 'free' either.

smxi ,
@smxi@fosstodon.org avatar

@arstechnica Funny how the easiest patterns to match for anyone with a brain are bots, bot activity, etc, yet Google, Tesla, Twitter/X, are unable to stop them. That tells me all I need to know about the BS level of current 'AI' (sic) claims. Even functioning pattern matching should be able to detect bot swarms and activity. What Elon is openly admitting here is that his machine learning doesn't work. Maybe stop to think before putting it in cars? Google's also does not work, spam, etc, same.

Basic_Bench ,
@Basic_Bench@mstdn.social avatar

@arstechnica such a stupid idea.

gneilyo ,
@gneilyo@mastodon.online avatar

@arstechnica Elmo’s dealer must have cut him off until he pays his tab

GraceC ,
@GraceC@mastodon.online avatar

@arstechnica Greed should be classified as mental illness.

tkk13909 ,
@tkk13909@fosstodon.org avatar

@arstechnica bro forgot captchas exist

trainman ,
@trainman@sfba.social avatar

@arstechnica He definitely needs a better barber.

jadugar63 ,
@jadugar63@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica
Hey Elon. Melania sends her regards.

daisyj ,
@daisyj@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica I wonder if the real purpose isn't to get more people to have a credit card on file so it's easier to make sales when Twix tries to introduce some kind of purchasing through the site.

leeolds ,
@leeolds@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica The freest speech that money can buy

Doreen32128 ,
@Doreen32128@universeodon.com avatar

@arstechnica Soooo glad I extradited myself from the dead bird site. It was very difficult, but necessary for me.

xs4me2 ,
@xs4me2@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica

Well if that will not kill the platform. Really making an effort here…

CwalkPinoy ,
@CwalkPinoy@fosstodon.org avatar

@arstechnica bots that rake in money on Twitter will pay 8 dollars for a check mark so I think this will only stop children
...actually I like this idea

steter ,
@steter@mastodon.stevesworld.co avatar

@arstechnica It's called money laundering. The corruption is flooding this country. The bastards who decided are untouchable, like in a caste system, domestic enemies of the constitution.

thomastraynor ,
@thomastraynor@social.linux.pizza avatar

@arstechnica Won't stop the bots. If they have to wait three months all they will do is stockpile an army of bots. Set them up to log in and back out at random, scroll a bit and fake being a person.

number6 ,
@number6@fosstodon.org avatar

@arstechnica

Musk is right. Anonymity is abused constantly by spammers, trollers, and bots.

The main way we having of prove identification without submitting an actual state-issued ID is with a debit or credit card.

If you read the article, the fee is only for new accounts for the ability to post. If you just listen for 3 months, then you can post without the fee. This seems like a reasonable compromise.

nemo ,

@arstechnica

Part of me is holding out hope that this will kill Twitter.

MrLee ,
@MrLee@aus.social avatar

@arstechnica
Buying Twitter was ALWAYS about stopping free speech. ALWAYS.

thisismissem ,
@thisismissem@hachyderm.io avatar

@arstechnica @lindsey this assumes that the $1 expense to post is greater than the benefit they gain from manipulation (it probably isn't)

avlcharlie ,
@avlcharlie@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica
Wait.. new users only?.. so he farms the hate people, kicks out people he doesn't like and then anyone else has to pay to say something.. seems like a handy filter..

valeg ,
@valeg@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica remember all these jokes "and this site is free", well, not for long

bodhipaksa ,
@bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot avatar

@arstechnica It's almost as if he has no idea how to run a social media company.

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