Elon Musk halts updates to X creator revenue-sharing program after backlash

Social media platform X has reversed course on a newly announced update to its creator monetisation system, following widespread criticism from users worldwide—the proposed changes aimed to adjust payouts based on engagement coming from a creator’s local audience.

Late Tuesday, X’s Head of Product Nikita Bier shared that the platform planned to revise how creator payouts are calculated, with the new approach set to take effect on Thursday. The update would prioritise impressions generated within a creator’s home region, shifting away from the current model, which allows broader global engagement to influence earnings.

Bier explained that the reasoning behind the change was to discourage users from attempting to manipulate the platform’s algorithm by focusing content on high-engagement regions such as the United States or Japan. According to him, the goal was to encourage creators to produce content that resonates more strongly with audiences in their own countries and nearby regions.

“We will be giving more weight to impressions from your home region—to encourage content that resonates with people in your country, in neighbouring countries and people who speak your language,” Bier wrote in a post on the platform.

He further added that while global conversations remain important, the company hoped the shift would reduce attempts to attract attention from larger markets like the U.S. or Japan purely for higher visibility. The intention, he said, was to foster more diverse and locally relevant discussions, ultimately making the platform richer with content tailored to different regions.

However, the announcement quickly triggered backlash from creators worldwide. Many users pointed out that they intentionally post in widely used languages such as English to reach broader audiences, especially in regions where X usage is relatively limited. Critics argued that the proposed system would disadvantage creators whose local markets are smaller, reducing their ability to grow and monetise their content effectively.

Within hours of the announcement, Elon Musk responded to a user on the platform, stating that the company would “pause moving forward with this until further consideration.” This effectively halted the rollout of the new payout rules before they could be implemented.

Over time, X has made several adjustments to how user and account information is presented, particularly in efforts to combat misinformation. In November last year, the company introduced a new profile field that displays the country or region an account is based in. This feature was designed to help users assess account authenticity and identify potential bad actors, especially in the context of political misinformation.

The proposed monetisation update appeared to stem from similar concerns, as some accounts may post about specific regions or topics primarily to capture attention rather than provide genuine local relevance. However, in practice, the change would have affected a wide range of content beyond politics, including posts on sports, fashion, entertainment, and technology that naturally attract global audiences.

Earlier this year, X also revised its monetisation policies to include stricter rules around misleading content. The platform introduced a clause stating that accounts could lose access to creator payouts for 90 days if they use AI-generated content to spread misinformation about conflicts without proper disclosure. To enforce this, the company said it would rely on its internal AI systems and its community-driven moderation tool, Community Notes.

More recently, concerns about misinformation on the platform have intensified. A report by Wired highlighted that X had become a significant hub for misleading content following military actions by the United States and Israel against Iran, in which AI-generated videos and even video game clips were circulated as real footage. The latest episode underscores the challenges X faces in balancing monetisation, content authenticity, and global engagement, particularly as it continues to refine its policies in response to user behaviour and public criticism.