Elon Musk: Social media platform X could go behind paywall

US billionaire Elon Musk has suggested that users of his social media site X (formerly known as Twitter) may have to pay to access the platform. 

Musk was speaking to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu when he made the announcement, saying a payment system was the only way to counter bots.

“We’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system,” Musk said. 

It’s not clear when the move to a payment system could start. 

Musk has long said that his solution for tackling bots and fake accounts on the social media platform is charging for verification. 

Since Musk bought Twitter for $44bn last year he has looked for ways to make money off the social media site, including introducing X Premium – a paid-for service that gives more features, like longer posts and increased visibility on the platform. 

It’s still currently free for people to use X. 

“A bot costs a fraction of a penny” to make he said. “But if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount, the effective cost to bots is very high”.

X Premium currently costs $8 (£6.50) a month in the US. The price differs depending on which country a subscriber is in.

Musk said that he was now looking at cheaper options for users.

“We’re actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. So we just want it to be just a small amount of money,” he said.

“This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defence against vast armies of bots,” Mr Musk added.