Elon Musk's X will now ask users to pay for starting a livestream. All we know so far

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X announced on Friday that it will soon require users to have a premium subscription in order to start a livestream. The new update comes shortly after X made likes on the platform private for all users.

X did not provide a timeline for when the livestream feature would go behind the paywall, but stated that it would happen "soon". Users will also no longer be able to start livestreams via the X integration on the encoder platform.

The news was confirmed via a post by the official ‘@live’ profile on X, which wrote, “Starting soon, only Premium subscribers will be able to livestream (create live video streams) on X. This includes going live from an encoder with X integration. Upgrade to Premium to continue going live,”

Notably, all other major social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok do not require users to have a premium subscription to start a livestream.

Since taking over the social media platform in 2022, Elon Musk has introduced a number of changes, including ending the old verified programme, rebranding the company from Twitter to X and removing the ability to block accounts. However, the app doesn't require a fee to use basic features such as starting a livestream, which could be a sign of things to come.

With advertising revenue continuing to be a concern for X, Musk and co. are increasingly focused on growing the premium subscription model. The X Premium subscription starts at ₹215/month (on the web) and goes up to ₹1,133 for the Premium+ tier.

Notably, Musk had hinted earlier this year that X may soon charge new users a small fee to allow them to post on the platform. The platform has already started charging new users in the Philippines and New Zealand $1 for the posting privileges.