<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Elon Musk has suggested that all users of X, formerly called Twitter, may have to pay for access to the platform.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the billionaire said a payment system was the only way to counter bots.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system," the Tesla and SpaceX boss said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The BBC approached X for further details but has not yet received a statement from the company.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is unclear whether this was just an off-the-cuff comment, or a signal of firmer plans that have yet to be announced.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musk has long said that his solution for getting rid of bots and fake accounts on the social media platform is charging for verification.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since taking over Twitter last year he has looked to incentivise users to pay for an enhanced service, which is now called X Premium.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This has been done by giving paid subscribers more features, like longer posts and increased visibility on the platform.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, users can currently still use X for free.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although there is a clear financial interest for the company to charge users, Mr Musk insisted that getting people to pay for the service is aimed at tackling bots.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"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".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">X Premium currently costs $8 (£6.50) a month in the US. The price differs depending on which country a subscriber is in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The world's richest person said that he was now looking at cheaper options for users.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"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.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defence against vast armies of bots," Mr Musk added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, a risk is that by putting X behind a paywall it may lose a large chunk of its users. That in turn, could drive down advertising revenue, which currently accounts for the vast majority of the company's income.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musk's conversation with the Israeli prime minister also touched on antisemitism on X.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The platform has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) campaign group of not doing enough to stop antisemitic content.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a statement, the organisation said that Mr Musk was "engaging with and elevating" antisemites.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier this month, he said that the company would sue the ADL to "clear our platform's name".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the conversation with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Musk reiterated that he was "against antisemitism".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Netanyahu accepted the balance between free speech and content moderation was a challenge but urged Mr Musk to get the balance right.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I hope you find within the confines of the First Amendment, the ability to stop not only antisemitism... but any collective hatred of people that antisemitism represents," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I know you're committed to that", Mr Netanyahu added. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>