X Takes Bold Legal Action to Reshape Creator Rewards

Max Simonsson profile image Max Simonsson 2 min
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X (formerly Twitter) is taking a firm stance against fraudulent engagement, filing a lawsuit in England against individuals accused of faking interactions to profit from its past Creator Revenue Sharing program. The company claims the scheme netted over £207,000, prompting legal action to safeguard its platform and legitimate creators. This move coincides with X's recent overhaul of its creator compensation model, shifting focus from pure engagement to rewarding original content. The platform aims to ensure a fair ecosystem where creativity, not system gaming, is truly valued.

X has initiated legal proceedings against Vivek Kumar Sen and Zamyang Sherpa, alleging they orchestrated a network of six accounts to generate artificial engagement. According to the filing, first reported by Gizmodo, these accounts reportedly posted identical crypto headlines seconds apart, then used other handles to reply and repost, creating a false impression of genuine interaction. X states this operation fraudulently earned the individuals around $278,000 from the old Creator Revenue Sharing program.

This lawsuit underscores a significant shift in how X plans to reward its content creators. The previous system, launched in mid-2023, paid out based solely on engagement, which unfortunately encouraged practices like copied posts and engineered replies. X's general counsel, James Burnham, emphasized the company's commitment to "act forcefully to protect our platform and the earnings of genuine creators."

The platform officially replaced its old program with "Original Content Rewards" on September 7. The new model is much stricter, paying only for "qualified impressions"—unique views from Premium subscribers where at least half the post is visible. Importantly, copied posts, reuploaded media, and reposts without significant changes are now excluded. Allegra Jacchia from SpaceXAI, which now manages X's product and AI work following xAI’s acquisition of the platform, clearly stated the goal is to reward original ideas and perspectives, not those who excel at gaming the system. This legal action serves as a strong message from X, reinforcing its new focus on authenticity and fairness for everyone.