X is regulating its policy for making sure that users feel informed and are not just fooled. The platform has started strengthening rules by cutting payouts to accounts that are flooded with clickbait and rapid-fire news gathering. Nikita Bier, Head of the Product, conveys that it is a broader shift in trying to redefine “valuable content” versus engagement-driven noise.
After this take, the company is facing backlash from high-volume news-style accounts, while the company frames it as a cleanup of manipulation.
Bier said on Saturday that “[a]ll aggregators had their payouts reduced to 60% this cycle” and warned that they will see another 20% reduction in the next payout cycle. He also confirmed stricter enforcement against repetitive engagement tactics, adding that X is reducing payments for “habitual bait posters who use ‘BREAKING’ on every post.”
He explained the reasoning bluntly: “It became abundantly clear: flooding the timeline with 100 stolen reposts and clickbait every day crowded out real creators and hurt new author growth,” while adding, “X will never infringe on speech or reach, but we will not compensate for manipulation of the program or our users.”
The policy shift immediately triggered concern among political and news-focused accounts. Dominick McGee, who posts as Dom Lucre, said, “BREAKING […] I was the first creator demonetized on this platform, and I was for an entire year. I got working and just lost it without any insight. How could this be possible? I am one of the hardest-working creators on X.” McGee, who has 1.6 million followers, has previously faced bans and reportedly earned around $55,000 annually from the platform.
An account named PoliMath said, “I think I appreciate what Nikita is trying to do there, but I just had my lowest payout in a long time,” adding concerns about being misclassified as an aggregator despite not identifying as one.
The move comes amid ongoing criticism about X’s content ecosystem. Data analyst Nate Silver said it has become harder to drive traffic from X to external websites, arguing, “I suppose I had some intuition for how bad it was, but jeez, this is what you get when the ecosystem is broken.”
Bier disputed Silver’s claims, calling his data inaccurate, while Elon Musk labeled his posts “bullshit,” though independent analyses have supported parts of Silver’s concerns.
X has changed its monetization policy, aiming to get rid of the confusion on the platform. People can post anything freely, and creators earn through incentives for their content. The company's focus is to block the fake engagement that is posting for just likes and views.
This policy has become the greatest concern among the users and creators. They are doubtful, as defining aggregation would be tough, and it will create new controversy in the upcoming days.
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