Elon Musk’s X stops users from earning money from stolen viral videos

Elon Musk-owned X has just announced a new policy change. The new rule is pertaining to accounts that repost viral videos and memes created by others in order to earn money through engagement. Through this move, X aims to reduce what users often describe as the platform’s “copycat economy,” where large repost accounts benefit from millions of views while original creators receive little recognition or revenue for the content. The change comes at a time when X continues to expand its creator monetization programme. 

According to X’s head of product Nikita Bier, the company has identified several accounts that were “programmatically reuploading” videos and clips from smaller creators to exploit the revenue-sharing system.

To address the issue, X will now detect copied uploads and redirect most of the impressions and monetization benefits to the original creator instead of repost accounts. The company says the update is designed to reward people who actually create content rather than those who simply repost trending material first.

Bier wrote in a post on X, “Over the past month, we have identified several large accounts that have been programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts to game the revenue share program and circumvent crediting the original author”.

The platform further clarified that commentary, reactions, and discussions around viral content will still be allowed. Nikita Bier encouraged users to use X’s “Share Video” and “Quote” features instead of downloading and reuploading clips separately.