Social media platform X has announced a significant intensification of its efforts to combat large accounts that programmatically re-upload content from smaller creators to unfairly manipulate its revenue-sharing system. Nikita Bier, X's head of product, stated that his team "has identified a number of large accounts that have been programmatically re-uploading content," specifically noting their intent to circumvent proper attribution to original authors.
Bier elaborated that over the past month, X detected numerous large accounts "programmatically re-uploading content from smaller accounts to game the revenue share program and circumvent crediting the original author." He confirmed that X is now actively identifying these illicit posts and is reallocating "the impressions entirely to the creator." Furthermore, Bier urged X users to utilize the "Share Video" or "Quote" features, encouraging the addition of insightful commentary, to ensure original creators are accurately attributed and compensated.
As a specific example, Bier publicly called out Mario Nawfal, who commands 3.5 million followers and hosts a prominent live discussion show on X. Nawfal recently shared an ABC News video depicting a reporter's reaction to gunshots near The White House. A Community Note appended to Nawfal's post clearly stated: "OP stole this video without providing credit."
In a direct response to Nawfal's post, Bier commented, "Your revenue was reduced by 90% last cycle and we’re running out of room to reduce it more." Business Insider reported that Nawfal subsequently claimed the "Reshare" button was non-functional for longer tweets. This counter-claim itself was community-noted, effectively labeling Nawfal as untruthful and a "chronic content thief."
While content appropriation is a challenge across various social media platforms, with Instagram also implementing measures against content thieves, the platform formerly known as Twitter has historically struggled with users illicitly repurposing creators' work. This issue appeared to exacerbate under the leadership of Elon Musk.
Last year, astrophotographer Paul M. Smith experienced multiple accounts stealing his video of the Geminids meteor shower. Major accounts, such as "Curiosity," exploited his work for their own gain. After X failed to intervene, Smith pursued these accounts with DMCA notices, successfully leading to the removal of most infringing content. Compounding the problem, large accounts frequently block creators like Smith once complaints are filed. The "Massimo" account on X blocked Smith after a successful DMCA claim. Smith informed PetaPixel that he believes Massimo was afforded "immunity" by Musk due to its status as one of his preferred accounts.
