X - or Twitter, if you prefer - has started charging an annual $1 fee to people setting up new accounts in New Zealand and the Philippines.
Free accounts are still available for people who just want to browse content posted by other users, but anyone wanting to post onto the social media platform via a new account in those countries will need to pay the one dollar a year fee.
Although X owner Elon Musk has been busy trying to grow the subscriptions side of the business since he bought the company - offering extra tools and benefits for those who upgrade to premium - the new one dollar charge for basic accounts is being presented as a measure to stop bot accounts from being set up.
X said in a statement: “As of 17 Oct we’ve started testing ‘Not A Bot’, a new subscription method for new users in two countries. This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity".
“This new programme", it added, "aims to defend against bots and spammers who attempt to manipulate the platform and disrupt the experience of other X users. We look forward to sharing more about the results soon".
“This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X", it then concluded, "while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. Within this test, existing users are not affected".