X will start charging new users in two countries $1 per year

X will start charging new web users in New Zealand and the Philippines $1 a year as part of a "Not A Bot" program, according to a post on X's help center published Tuesday. X said the subscription is meant to bolster its efforts to reduce spam, platform manipulation and bot activity, and new web users in those countries must also verify their account with a phone number. Users who do not subscribe will only be able to take "read only" actions, such as viewing posts and watching videos. The program is separate from X's main $8 monthly subscription.