X (Twitter) Overrun by Bots: Binance's CZ Urges Elon Musk to Step In

When Elon Musk acquired Twitter for the modest sum of 44 billion dollars, he promised to put an end to bots. However, three years later, the observation is alarming: the social network, renamed X, is more infested than ever. Worse, the bots proudly display their blue badge, proof that some pay to exist. Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ, former head of Binance and contributor to the purchase of Twitter, has just slammed the table: he wants a network populated by humans, not robots.

Must Musk listen to CZ and ban bots?

Tired of talking to automated entities, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) called out Musk on X:

I want to talk to humans, not bots. Automated posts should be banned.

According to the former CEO of Binance, the solution is simple: Musk must disable the APIs allowing programs to post automatically.

Distant from being a mere whim, this exasperation rests on facts:

• A study by the company CHEQ revealed back in 2024 that the majority of traffic on X was fake;
• The activity of bots has intensified since Musk reduced moderation staff by 70%;
• Troll farms and AI have rendered anti-bot filters obsolete.

CZ BNB, who had nonetheless injected 500 million dollars into the Twitter buyout in 2022, wonders if this money could have been better spent elsewhere. Will Musk listen to him?

Nothing is less certain, especially since the head of X seems convinced that he has an alternative.

Elon Musk imposes a tax to limit bots

Faced with this disaster, Musk is not sitting idle. He is preparing a new strategy: imposing fees on new users to verify their authenticity. An experiment in New Zealand and the Philippines has already been launched in 2024, with an annual contribution of 1 dollar to have the right to post, like, and comment. According to Musk, “AI and troll farms can outsmart all classic tests.”

But this approach could undermine one of the pillars of social networks: their free access.

This model could also set a precedent. If X imposes a subscription, why wouldn’t Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram follow suit? Especially since Netflix has paved the way with its ban on account sharing, prompting a wave of imitations in streaming.

Ultimately, doesn’t Musk risk finishing off his own social network with radical measures? If bots proliferate, real users might well end up deserting X…

Elon Musk and CZ were right: Twitter, now X, was infested with bots. Yet, despite the promises and the millions invested, nothing really changes. Three years later, the social network still resembles a field of robots. New boss, same problems?