X's Big Move Against Fake Engagement. What Comes Next?
X (formerly Twitter) is cracking down on fraudulent activity, filing a lawsuit against individuals accused of faking engagement to unfairly profit from its former Creator Revenue Sharing program. The company claims the scheme generated over $278,000 for the alleged network of accounts. This decisive action comes as X shifts its focus, transitioning to a new Original Content Rewards program designed to value genuine creativity over manipulated interactions. The lawsuit underscores X's commitment to protecting its platform and the earnings of authentic creators in this evolving digital landscape.
The lawsuit filed by X in the High Court of England and Wales targets Vivek Kumar Sen and Zamyang Sherpa, alleging they operated a coordinated network of six accounts. These accounts, including @Vivek4real_ and @Bitcoin_Teddy, reportedly posted nearly identical “BREAKING” crypto headlines within seconds of each other. They then used additional handles to like, reply, and repost the material, creating a false appearance of widespread, genuine interaction. This alleged scheme allowed them to game the system and earn significant payouts.
X claims this fraudulent activity pulled in at least £207,384, equivalent to about $278,000, before the accounts were suspended. The company also states it incurred another £75,000 in investigation and remediation costs. James Burnham, X's general counsel, stated the company “will act forcefully to protect our platform and the earnings of genuine creators,” a sentiment echoed by Elon Musk’s terse warning: “Don’t mess with 𝕏.”
This legal action aligns with X’s recent overhaul of its creator payment model. The old Creator Revenue Sharing program, launched in mid-2023, based payouts on engagement, regardless of originality. This led to a flood of recycled content and engineered replies designed purely to farm reactions. After several attempts to patch the old system, X retired it on September 7th.
The new program, Original Content Rewards, launched the very next day with much stricter rules. Payouts now come only from qualified impressions from Premium subscribers, with replies no longer counting. Crucially, copied posts, reuploaded media, and reposts without significant changes are explicitly excluded. Allegra Jacchia, a senior product manager at SpaceXAI (which now oversees X’s product and AI work), emphasized that the goal is to reward original ideas and perspectives, not those who have mastered exploiting the system. In essence, the lawsuit highlights the high cost of the old incentive structure as X ushers in an era valuing true originality.