Top News

X moves to stop creators profiting from stolen viral content
25 May 2026

X, the social media platform, is taking steps to combat its "copycat economy."

This term refers to accounts that quickly repost or recycle content from smaller creators for profit.

Nikita Bier, X's Head of Product, revealed that several large accounts have been found "programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts" to exploit the platform's creator revenue-share program.

Repost accounts are hijacking creator revenue-share program
Program exploitation

Bier noted that the creator revenue-share program, which allows eligible creators to earn money based on engagement, has been exploited by some users.

These users have been reposting trending videos and viral content before the original creator could gain traction.

To combat this, X is changing how impressions are allocated on such reposted content.

"We are now identifying these posts and allocating the impressions entirely to the creator," Bier said.

Original creators will now get most of the impressions
Policy change

The policy change is aimed at ensuring that the original creator gets most of the visibility and monetization benefits, not repost or aggregation accounts.

However, Bier has clarified that commentary and reactions are still welcome on the platform.

He encouraged users who want to add opinions or context to a viral clip to use X's "Share Video" or "Quote" feature instead of downloading and reposting content.

X clarifies stance on commentary and reaction videos
Clarification

Responding to a user query about how impressions would work with the Share Video feature, Bier clarified that users adding meaningful commentary would still get a share of impressions.

"Commentary is encouraged and will get a portion of impressions. However, original posts will always get the bulk of the allocation," he explained.

This way, X hopes to strike a balance between encouraging user engagement while protecting original content creators' rights.