On Wednesday, Elon Musk announced that new X users will have to pay $1 a year to post on the platform to combat bots, even though they can read other people’s posts for free.

The company is rolling out the test of this new program in New Zealand and the Philippines before it launches it globally.

X will require new users in New Zealand and the Philippines to pay $1 to create accounts, IANS reported.

“Read for free, but $1/year to write. It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users,” Musk posted.

“This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform,” he added.

According to X, this was done to fight bots and will be piloted in these countries.

The new move, part of a so-called ‘Not A Bot’ program, is designed to “bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity,” X said.

New users who opt out of subscribing will only be able to take ‘read-only’ actions,” such as viewing posts and watching videos.

This new program in addition to X’s main subscription with verified at $8 per month.

X is also reportedly planning to split its premium paid subscription service into three membership tiers to earn more money and become profitable by 2024.

According to reports, X would split the current $8 Premium subscription into three different plans: Basic, Standard, and, at various price points.