X is now targeting one of its biggest ongoing problems – accounts that steal content from small creators and pass it off as their own. According to Nikita Bier, the head of products at X, the company has launched an attack on accounts that steal and repost content originally created by others. This is one of the few steps that X has ever taken against what is termed a “copycat economy.”
Also read: From deepfakes to data: Pope Leo XIV’s AI guardrail message explained
The creator revenue-sharing program on X allows eligible creators to earn income through engagement on the platform; however, in the process, an unintended incentive to repost or remix viral content quickly before the original creator earns recognition was formed.
Some large accounts were apparently automating the process of uploading content by remixing or reuploading videos posted by small creators, leveraging the revenue generation model employed by X. Essentially, what this means is that these accounts were earning money by using someone else’s creations, without any gain to the original creators themselves.
X is changing its approach to impression distribution on reposted posts. In the new scheme, most of the impressions are likely to go to the creator rather than the repost account. “We are now identifying these posts and allocating the impressions entirely to the creator,” Bier wrote on X.
Also read: Disarming AI: What the Pope said about AI ethics and policy
Following the anti-stealing campaign is another effort targeting aggregator accounts. Earlier this year, Bier wrote that all aggregators would have their payout cut by 60% during this payout cycle and another 20% during the following pay period. “Flooding the timeline with 100 stolen reposts and clickbait every day crowded out real creators and hurt new author growth,” he said at the time
“Bier advised users who wish to comment or talk about the video to share it using X’s ‘Share Video’ or ‘Quote’ functions so that the original attribution is maintained,” he added.
However, posts that contain valuable commentary would not go unnoticed, as they would get their fair share of the impression allocations, although not as many as the original content does.
There have been some hitches along the way. Several users reported that posts that had more than 280 characters would be shown as links instead of being embedded in the feed. And while this is indeed a bug, Bier assured users that X would soon come up with a fix for it. The move shows a change in strategy on the part of X, as the social media platform now wishes to ensure that the original creators remain in good standing and that the platform can continue to thrive by attracting new creators.
Also read: People are using AI to defend themselves in US courts: Why it’s a problem