Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has begun rolling out a new subscription that will charge new unverified users $1 per year for basic features, DPA reported on Wednesday, citing Agerpres.

Elon Musk, owner of X/TwitterPhoto: Alain JOCAR / AFP / Profimedia

New users in New Zealand and the Philippines will be the first to try Not A Bot, X, formerly of Twitter, said in a statement.

“This new program aims to protect against bots and spammers who try to manipulate the platform and disrupt the work of other X users,” said the company, which Musk officially acquired last October. Existing users will not be affected by the new subscription service.

Those who choose not to pay can perform “read-only” activities, including reading posts, watching videos, and following accounts. However, they will not be able to like, reply, repost, quote, or bookmark posts.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk paid $44 billion a year ago to buy Twitter.

After acquiring Twitter, Musk laid off about 80% of its 8,000 employees worldwide – and admitted that this led to losses in the functionality of the platform.

He also oversaw the removal of the legacy “blue ticks” that verified a user’s identity, replaced by a paid subscription called Twitter Blue.