Elon Musk says Twitter's Per-Article Paywall Sparks Debate Among Publishers and Users

Elon Musk has announced that Twitter is set to introduce per-article charging in May, providing a new means for publishers to generate revenue from non-subscribers. This move would enable media publishers to charge users for accessing individual articles posted on the website. While the per-article price will be higher than the cost of subscribing to access all articles, it is aimed at users who only wish to read the occasional story from a specific outlet. Therefore, the cost of each article is unlikely to be as high as a monthly subscription.

Currently, the specifics of the upcoming feature are unclear. Elon Musk has only mentioned that it will be launched next month, without disclosing which types of accounts or media outlets will be eligible for per-article charging. Additionally, it remains unknown what percentage of the fee Twitter will be retaining as commission. When the company replaced Super Follows with Subscriptions, Musk stated that creators would not be charged for the first 12 months. After this period, Twitter will be taking a 10% cut on subscriptions.

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Engadget has attempted to seek clarification from the website regarding the implementation of the new feature, but there is no longer a press team to provide information. Therefore, further details on whether Twitter will enforce the same regulations for per-article payments remain unknown. However, it is expected that the company will take a percentage of the revenue generated from this new feature. Under the leadership of Elon Musk, Twitter has been introducing more paid features in an attempt to increase its revenue. For instance, the platform's verification badge is now only available to Blue subscription holders, who pay $8 per month. Furthermore, Twitter has shut down its free API in favor of a new, paid one. The cost of accessing this new API is almost $50,000 per month for enterprise customers. As a result, some organizations and companies, such as NYC's transport authority, have either discontinued their Twitter integration or abandoned the platform entirely.