Musk is moving to bring paid monthly subscriptions to X: Elon Musk plans to introduce a monthly payment system in an effort to combat bots on X (formerly known as Twitter), the X CEO said during a livestream with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to CNBC. Musk did not disclose the cost of the new plan or what additional features would be included. X currently has 550 mn monthly users who generate 100 mn to 200 mn posts per day, but it is unclear how many of these users are authentic as opposed to bots.

Chalk it up to the latest in a string of changes Musk has been making since taking over the social platform: In addition to its plans to begin charging users monthly subscription fees, X is also seeking a license to become a money transmitter across the US, having already obtained permission in eight states, according to CNBC. Musk has also previously implemented staff cuts, restored suspended accounts, and eliminated the once-coveted blue check verification system — and introduced a membership system for the check mark — all in a bid to boost Twitter’s income growth as it battled to retain advertisers.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is rolling out its payment service in India: After launching in Brazil and Singapore, WhatsApp’s parent company Meta will allow users in India to make purchases from local businesses directly through WhatsApp chat, Bloomberg reports. WhatsApp's user base of over 400 mn users and 200 mn companies in India will be able to make payment via credit, debit, and Indian payment apps. The payment service will be offered without charge, with the exception of the regular processing fee for transactions. Large-scale businesses will need to pay to message customers directly, and to use click-to-message advertising. The rationale behind the launch is to expand Meta's revenue, and WhatsApp does not anticipate antitrust issues moving forward.

El Salvador is taking a stand on gang crime, putting more than 72k alleged gang members behind bars: President Nayib Bukele took the stand at the UN General Assembly and announced the success of his tough-on-crime security policy over the past 1.5 years, which has contributed to his high approval ratings back home. While this has bumped the country — once known as the world capital of death due to its high murder rate — up the security index ladder, it has also given it the title of the world’s largest prison population per capita, dethroning Rwanda.

The country is now officially jailing people at triple the rate of the US, which is home to the second largest prison population worldwide. In 2020, Bukele invoked a “state of exception” — emergency powers that give authorities broad powers to jail people — to begin his campaign against gangs, prompting criticism from human-rights groups due to his increasingly authoritarian actions. Prior to Bukele’s crackdown on crime, the country’s prison population sat at 30k, and has now increased threefold to reach 100k. Almost 2% of El Salvador’s population is currently in jail on suspicion of being gang members, though none of the detainees have been sentenced yet.

Bukele asserts that El Salvador now “competes with Canada” as the continent’s safest country. The country is slowly expanding its network of prisons to accommodate their increasing incarceration rate. One of their newest and largest prisons — the centerpiece of Bukele’s campaign — is the Terrorism Detention Center, which has the capacity for 40k inmates. The president believes that the lower security rate is reversing mass migration, and claims that the majority of the Salvadoran diaspora in the US, who fled the 1979-1992 civil war, want to return home.

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