Elon Musk Halts Proposed Revenue-Sharing Policy on X
Following intense criticism and concern from users, Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), has suspended the proposed new revenue-sharing policy. He stated that implementation of the policy has been paused for now, and hinted that various aspects of the plan may be reconsidered after reviewing user feedback.
Tech portal TechCrunch reported that X quickly backtracked after announcing the new creator monetization rules. The proposed policy would have based payouts primarily on engagement from a creator’s local audience.
Earlier, on Tuesday night, March 24, X’s Head of Product Nikita Bier announced that starting Thursday, March 26, the platform would change its payout rules to give more weight to impressions from a poster’s home region. His rationale was to discourage creators from posting about the U.S. or Japan simply to attract larger audiences.
Bier wrote on X: “We will give more weight to impressions from your home region—to encourage content that resonates with people in your country, neighboring countries, and those who speak your language.”
He added: “While we respect everyone’s opinions on American politics, we hope this change will reduce attempts to capture attention from U.S. or Japanese accounts and instead foster diverse conversations. We invite creators to build audiences locally. X will be a richer community when relevant posts exist for people everywhere.”
However, the announcement drew global criticism. Many users argued that since X usage in their home countries is relatively small, they post in multiple languages—especially English—to reach broader audiences.
Just hours later, in response to a user, Elon Musk said the company would “pause moving forward with this until further consideration,” effectively halting the changes.
Over time, X has modified how account information is displayed to curb misinformation. Last November, the company added a new field in profile information showing the country or region an account is based in, to help identify whether it is authentic or a bad actor spreading political misinformation.
The new creator payout feature seemed to stem from similar concerns. However, in its current form, it would have affected not only political accounts but also those posting globally about sports, fashion, movies, or technology.
Earlier this year, X introduced a rule barring accounts from creator payouts for 90 days if they post misleading AI-generated war content without disclosure. The company said it would use its own AI tools and community notes to identify such accounts.
Last month, Wired reported that X had become fertile ground for misinformation after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, with AI-generated videos and video game clips being circulated as real war footage.
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