X head of product Nikita Bier announced on May 23 that the platform has identified a number of large accounts that have been programmatically re-uploading content from smaller creators to capture impressions and revenue that should flow to the originals. Going forward, X will detect these copied posts and redirect impressions entirely to the original creator; accounts that wish to share or comment on existing content are directed to use the platform’s Share Video or Quote features instead. The policy shift was partly prompted by a public complaint from creator Gene Parmesan, whose videos had been repeatedly ripped and reposted by larger accounts to greater reach. Bier acknowledged the behavior had “really bothered” the team and said X is committing significant engineering resources to automated detection models.
The May announcement extends a broader crackdown Bier began in April, when X cut all aggregator payouts to 60% for that pay cycle and signaled a further 20% reduction to follow, while also targeting accounts that append “BREAKING” to every post as clickbait. Bier framed the rationale bluntly at the time, noting that flooding the timeline with stolen reposts and bait content crowded out genuine creators and suppressed growth for new authors, adding that X would not compensate manipulation of the program even while leaving speech and reach untouched. The changes have drawn some collateral complaints, with analytical accounts reporting lower-than-expected payouts and questioning whether they were swept into the aggregator category unintentionally.