X, formerly Twitter, has introduced a new control that limits replies to only verified accounts. The control is not restricted to paid accounts, though. Users who don’t pay for X Premium can also choose to not let non-verified users reply to their posts.
Hours after the rollout of the feature, Elon Musk said that this new control “should help a lot with spam bots.”
Twitter originally rolled out the control to limit replies to either “Accounts you follow” or “Only accounts you mention” in 2020. However, at that time, users could only choose this setting before posting a tweet. In 2021, Twitter extended the feature’s scope to let users control replies after a tweet was published. Users can still quote a post even if the replies are restricted.
X already gives prominence to verified accounts by offering prioritized ranking in conversation and search as one of the perks of the subscription. With the new control to limit replies to only verified accounts, X is now allowing paid users to get noticed more.
While Musk’s intention is to reduce spam in replies, there is no guarantee that verified accounts won’t post harmful information. Earlier this week, an NBC News report noted that many verified accounts on X were posting false news about U.S. President Joe Biden allocating $8 billion as military aid to Israel.