Social media platform X wants to charge money for live streams

Social media platform X wants users to pay for broadcasting live images via the messaging platform. The technology company announced that the livestream function will soon only be available to people with at least a premium subscription, which costs 8 euros per month in the Netherlands.

Under owner Elon Musk, the former Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion in 2022, is looking for new sources of income to make the company less dependent on advertisers. Certain services that were previously free are therefore only reserved for paying subscribers. For example, X previously decided to offer blue verification check marks for paid accounts.

X’s announcement to abolish free live streaming immediately led to criticism. People who want to broadcast live images are more likely to switch to YouTube or Twitch, with which X previously said it wants to compete.