X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is implementing significant changes to its creator revenue-sharing program to combat the widespread practice of reposting stolen viral videos for profit. The update aims to curb “engagement farming” by aggregation accounts while better rewarding those who produce original content.
The microblogging platform announced that it will aggressively target accounts that programmatically scrape, reupload, and profit from viral videos originally produced by smaller creators.
For over a year, X’s Creator Revenue Sharing program unintentionally fostered what users dubbed a “copycat economy.”
Large, verified accounts discovered they could leverage automated tools or rapid manual ripping to download trending clips, reupload them, and secure thousands of dollars in payouts before the authentic creator could achieve critical traction.
The new update intends to fully neutralize this financial incentive by rerouting monetization metrics to the primary source.
The Problem of the “Copycat Economy”
For months, many users have observed a pattern on X: a compelling video or meme from a smaller creator quickly appears in feeds from multiple large accounts, often within minutes. These reposters accumulate massive views and engagement, earning payouts through X’s revenue-share model, while the original poster receives little to no recognition or financial benefit.
This system inadvertently incentivized rapid downloading and reuploading of trending content, creating what critics described as a “copycat economy.” Larger verified accounts could exploit the algorithm’s emphasis on quick engagement, sidelining genuine creators and flooding timelines with recycled material.
Reallocating the ‘Impressions’
The strategic update directly targets how algorithmic engagement and subsequent financial rewards are measured. Rather than merely taking down plagiarized posts or issuing standard copyright strikes, X is introducing a system that redirects the reach of unoriginal media.
Detailing the change on the platform, X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, stated:
“Over the past month, we have identified a number of large accounts that have been programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts to game the revenue share program and circumvent crediting the original author.”
To break this loop, Bier announced that the platform will adjust its metrics framework:
“We are now identifying these posts and allocating the impressions entirely to the creator.”
Under this new architecture, if a content aggregation account syndicates a stolen video that goes viral, the algorithmic impressions, which determine the payout figures from X’s revenue pool will be counted toward the original creator’s balance. This effectively leaves the “engagement farm” account with high visible vanity metrics but zero monetary return for that specific piece of content.
The implementation of this policy reportedly reached a turning point following a public complaint by an independent video creator on X, whose grievances about routine content theft triggered a direct response from platform engineers and exposed a systemic issue affecting smaller accounts platform-wide.
Addressing the policy shift internally, X product engineer Allegra Jacchia reassured an affected creator that large-scale plagiarists “won’t earn from these posts since you are the original owner and poster of the video.”
The decision marks a key moment in the tenure of Nikita Bier, who joined X in 2025 to restructure its user experience. Bier, known for founding consumer apps like tbh (acquired by Meta) and Gas (acquired by Discord), outlined the core thesis guiding his development track:
“It all boils down to: Providing the best tools to create content, incentivizing the highest quality content, ranking that content so it finds its audience. Nothing else matters.”
Preserving Commentary: Native Attribution vs. Reuploads
While the policy targets systemic re-uploaders, X clarified that it is not outlawing the redistribution of viral culture, provided it occurs within native engagement frameworks. Digital commentary, reaction culture, and community discourse will remain eligible for monetization, provided they utilize internal curation tools.
Bier emphasized that users looking to add perspective to an existing video should bypass downloading third-party media files entirely:
“If you have insightful commentary about a post, we recommend using the Share Video or Quote feature to ensure your posts are properly attributed.”
When queried by users regarding how payout metrics would split under legitimate commentary use, Bier clarified that adding substantive value will still yield a return, though the origin post remains prioritized:
“Commentary is encouraged and will get a portion of impressions. However, original posts will always get the bulk of the allocation.”
Broader Context and Ongoing Efforts
This latest adjustment fits into X’s larger push under Elon Musk to refine creator incentives. The platform has experimented with various payout models, shifting emphasis toward engagement from Premium subscribers in some cases, while introducing deductions for aggregator-style behavior and clickbait.
Earlier measures included payout reductions for accounts flooding timelines with recycled or sensationalized content. X has also addressed issues like unlabeled AI-generated material, particularly videos depicting armed conflicts, to maintain authenticity and reduce misinformation risks.
Bier has publicly advocated for tools and rankings that promote high-quality, original work.
Implications for Creators and the Platform
For independent creators, especially smaller ones, these changes represent a potential boost. By reducing the financial rewards for uncredited reposts, X hopes to foster a healthier ecosystem where originality is prioritized over speed and scale of redistribution.
However, some curators and aggregators who add value through compilation or timely sharing may see reduced earnings.
The policy change signals a significant shift away from optimizing purely for raw platform traffic toward favoring high-quality, authentic interactions. Since transitioning to a paid verification system under Elon Musk, X has struggled with “engagement farming,” a practice where Premium accounts spam popular threads with provocative replies, memes, or stolen videos solely to optimize impressions for monthly payouts.
By cutting the financial pipeline supporting automated curation hubs, X hopes to naturally shift the behavioral landscape toward creative production. This development aligns with Bier’s earlier guidance to the platform’s user base, where he strongly advocated for organic, direct-to-camera formats as a highly viable way for new creators to gain authentic, high-impact visibility without relying on established follower networks.
This development underscores a maturing approach to content governance on X: protecting intellectual effort while preserving the platform’s fast-paced, conversational nature. Whether it fully resolves the tensions between virality and originality remains to be seen, but the signal is clear, stolen content will no longer be an easy path to payouts.
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