Elon Musk Cuts Number Of Messages Twitter Users Can Send In Efforts To Handle Spam Bots

Twitter will make unpopular changes to users. (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - Millions of Twitter users who do not subscribe will soon be barred from sending messages to accounts that do not follow them in the major updates that will be made this week.

The Tesla CEO announced the changes on June 12, stressing that the boundaries between fraud and real people are increasingly blurred on the platform. Twitter has also recently imposed a message limit of 500 per day as a way to ease the "turn-on load".

"Hopefully this update will be released this week. As I have said many times, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between AI bots. Soon, it will become impossible. The only surviving "social networks" are those who require verification. Payment systems are a verification method that increases the cost of bots by about 10,000 times," Musk said in his tweet.

Twitter Blue, Twitter's paid subscription service, costs 84 US dollars (Rp1.25 million) per year for web users and US$114.99 (Rp1.7 million) for iPhone users.

The ability to send messages to users who do not follow will be limited to only future paid users, and this function also applies to group chat creation.

While some have praised this effort to fight bots, others warn that this could create obstacles between those who are able to pay for Twitter and those who can't.

Critics say this goes against Twitter's goal as an open "digital square", which Musk was aiming for after taking over last year.

One user said, "Twitter hasn't really been a proper service for eight dollars per month. It must destroy the dynamics of the square. Maybe one day, but there's still a lot to talk about. Online games face similar issues - bots are willing to pay to play."

Another user added, "This will make it really impossible for non-subscription people to send DMs to each other on Twitter. A better solution: allowing if the two had had DMs before. In this way we can exchange Twitter links (via other media) and start communication."

This change also raises speculation that the daily DM limit of 500 will be cut even more for future non-paid users.

This was revealed by tech leaker Alessandro Paluzzi after receiving a notification warning daily limits.

"#Twitter is working to limit the number of DMs that you can send per day before having to register for @Twitter Blue. Currently the limit is 500 per day, but I'm sure this limit will be reduced at this time being launched," he wrote.

Alessandro Paluzzi wrote, "No one knows for sure how the changes will improve Twitter. Australians and New Zealanders are still having problems with the gif. My art account is closed for no reason. It's better to fix basic Twitter before making unwanted or necessary changes!"

Meanwhile, another user said, "For businesses that have many customers and provide customer support through DM, they must be verified in order to send multiple direct messages."

Encrypted messages and the removal of old conversations are some of the other changes made in these apps in recent months.

However, Jake Moore, a cybersecurity expert at ESET, believes that too many changes can eventually get rid of loyal fans. He previously told MailOnline, "The Twitter Concurrent Message has been fully engaged in encrypted messages as well as the functionality of voice and video chats, so this is a clear next step.

"The number of users on platforms like Meta, Snap, and TikTok is much larger than Twitter, so to recover some losses from the purchase of this site, Musk needs to align the platform as a better competitor," he said.

"However, too many changes can have the opposite effect and can expel more loyal fans as we have seen before. Many sites similar to Twitter such as BlueSky and Mastadon are just waiting on the sidelines for users to switch there," he wrote.

"So Musk has to be careful not to damage the core of what has made this platform what it is today," he added.