X is taking decisive action to clean up its timeline and financially support authentic voices. On Friday, the platform’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, announced a significant overhaul of the creator revenue share program. The update is specifically designed to redirect funds away from aggregator accounts—profiles that primarily repost or curate others’ work—and toward the original authors who generate the platform’s primary value.
Crackdown on Content Aggregators
The shift in policy includes immediate and aggressive financial penalties for accounts that rely on reposted content. Bier revealed that payouts for all aggregators have already been slashed to 60% for the current cycle, with a further 20% reduction planned for the next. The platform is deploying new tools to identify original authorship, ensuring that the “effort it takes to produce something” is rewarded rather than just the poster who helped it go viral. This move mirrors similar steps taken by Instagram in 2024 to deprioritize unoriginal content in its discovery feeds.
Targeting Clickbait and Engagement Hacks
Beyond targeting reposts, X is cracking down on “habitual bait posters” who manipulate the system using sensationalist tactics. Bier noted that a permanent deduction will be assigned to users who abuse the “BREAKING” tag on every post to farm impressions from verified users. While X emphasizes that it will not restrict speech or reach, it will no longer financially compensate for the “manipulation of the program.” By removing the profit motive from clickbait and stolen content, X aims to foster a richer, higher-quality timeline that incentivizes long-term growth for real creators rather than short-term engagement hacks.