X is overhauling its creator revenue share program to redirect money away from aggregator accounts and toward original content creators.
The platform’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, announced the changes on Friday, saying the payout structure needs to reflect the effort behind creating content, not just the account that helped it spread furthest.
He took to X to say:
For this creator payout cycle, we’re experimenting with new tools to identify original authors of content and allocating a portion of revenue to them.
Over the last few months, we've seen incredible work from original creators on X. Nick Shirley uncovered billions of dollars of…
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) April 11, 2026
Under the new approach, X is experimenting with tools to identify original authors of content. Those authors will receive a dedicated portion of revenue, separate from accounts that simply repost or aggregate. Aggregator accounts had their payouts reduced to 60% in the current payout cycle.
X plans to cut that figure by a further 20% in the next cycle, bringing total reductions to 40% across two cycles.
The Head of Product was direct about the reasoning. He said flooding the timeline with stolen reposts and clickbait has crowded out real creators and suppressed new author growth. However, he clarified that X would not restrict reach or speech. Instead, it will simply stop compensating for what it considers manipulation of the program.
The platform also announced a further measure targeting clickbait. X plans to assign a permanent payout deduction to accounts that habitually use the word “BREAKING” on posts regardless of whether the content is genuinely breaking news.
X’s current revenue share system pays creators based on cumulative impressions from verified users. However, the system does not currently distinguish between types of engagement. That means a like, a comment, and a repost all count equally toward payouts. As a result, accounts focused on reposting viral content can earn more than creators producing original work, which is the gap X is now moving to close.
This move comes shortly after purging the platform of bot activity. Bot activity on social platforms has intensified during the US-Iran conflict, with automated accounts amplifying misinformation, propaganda and engagement bait across X, Facebook and other platforms. The timing of X’s purge during this period of heightened geopolitical tension is notable, though the company has not explicitly linked the two.
Instagram stepped up its game against aggregator reposts back in 2024 by taking some significant actions. They’ removed reposts from the Explore page and, whenever possible, made sure that original posts got the spotlight they deserve.
