Elon Musk Reveals Details Of Latest X Plan To Fight Bots

After a recent post by CEO Elon Musk it seems that changes are incoming at X, the social site formerly known as Twitter.

Musk says a new system to rid the platform of bots and trolls is “underway”, while asking users to reply to his post or ping his official account @XEng if their legitimate accounts are suspended in error.

“X Corp will be tracing the people responsible and bringing the full force of the law to bear upon them,” Elon Musk said, without providing further details.

The announcement comes after X’s appointment of a new head of brand safety and advertiser solutions in what it said was a bid to make the platform “a better, safer space for everyone”.

Automated accounts have long been a problem for the site and regularly reply to posts in a nonsensical or unrelated manner. Recent developments in AI make the bots harder to spot, though many users have a general feeling something is “off” with the platform, which often appears completely void of real human interaction.

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The latest round of bot-fighting measures will be a “significant, proactive initiative to eliminate accounts that violate [its] Rules against platform manipulation and spam,” X’s team announced yesterday, adding that they are “casting a wide net to ensure X remains secure and free of bots”.

Musk’s bot and troll crackdown coincides with the return of the controversial blue checkmark system on Wednesday evening. Users who had blue checks reinstated were told that they had been given a complimentary Premium subscription because they were considered “an influential member of the community.”

The outspoken SpaceX and Tesla CEO posted details last week that accounts with over 2,500 verified followers will have blue checks reinstated for free, while those with 5,000+ followers will get a complimentary $16-per-month Premium+ plan.