> You must have a valid mobile phone number to sign up. SMS charges may apply.

Reduces barrier of entry for mass AI spam, so I’m for it

As we all know spam text messages aren't a thing since it's very costly and hard to spoof cell phone numbers.

Even a one cent toll is enough to change the economics of many bot behaviours.

Those kind of SMS check usually ban voip providers. So you need a real line or a prepaid cellphone, and it can presumably only be used once or twice on this service before the number is "burned".

Such checks, although not perfect, do prevent a huge amount of spam and bots by having a very real cost for bots/spammers, and essentially no cost (other than their privacy) for the user.