Elon Musk confirms X will pause rolling out new creator revenue sharing rules

X announced a major tweak to its creator revenue sharing program earlier today that put a spotlight on local relevance. The plan was set to kick in this Thursday by giving more weight to impressions from a creator’s home region when calculating payouts. Nikita Bier shared the details in a post that racked up millions of views almost instantly.

The idea was to reward content that actually connects with people in the same country, nearby neighbors, or those who speak the same language. At the same time, it aimed to stop rewarding accounts that chase big money by gaming attention mainly from users in the United States or Japan. Those markets have long been the biggest cash sources, and the change was meant to even things out.

Seeing the reactions online, it seems like this is one of the most controversial decisions that the platform has made as of late. Plenty of users called it overdue, saying it could finally slow down the political engagement farming that targets American audiences. Others worried that X was upending the platform’s original logic. After all, topics like tech gaming and investing have always pulled in worldwide crowds, no matter where the creator lives.

Here are some of the thousands of reactions online:

First of all, this is a major update and one we badly needed. It’s long overdue, and honestly, it addresses a serious gap that should have been handled much sooner. This isn’t just a small improvement it’s a meaningful step in the right direction, and it’s genuinely reassuring to finally see it being taken seriously and implemented so thank you! – @rawsalerts

Unlike Twitter, X is not a global town square. Now it seems the official policy is “foreigners shut up and go away”. – @ahchoen

This will massively improve the app. They do listen. Well done.  – @ArtemisConsort

We’re paying $2,500 a month to support free speech on this platform, and yet the platform itself is undermining it. If criticism keeps getting selectively suppressed, we’re done funding it. This doesn’t look accidental. It looks deliberate. – @sunfluencer

Hey boss, what happened to 𝕏 being the Internet Town square, what happened to free speech, what happened to free exchange of ideas. Stop telling me what content I can post. Great commentary can come from any region. – @SmokeEx

In response to the overwhelming backlash against the change, Elon Musk stepped in and confirmed the rollout is on hold. He replied that we will pause moving forward with this until further consideration.

That came after he had already responded to another user with a “good point” comment when they noted that global content stretches far beyond politics.

Bier defended the original idea by saying X should not be sending money overseas for materials built mainly to sway American politics. He added that the platform still wants stronger, more relevant local conversations in markets outside the United States.

The original decision, however, shouldn’t be surprising to people who’ve been keeping tabs on recent changes on the platform. Late last year, the company added an “Account based in” feature that lets anyone see where accounts are based. The platform is also testing a new For You feed filter that will let users opt out of seeing posts from accounts based in countries they do not wish to see in their feeds.

From my viewpoint, the pause feels like a smart move. The original shift nudged X away from its old global town square promise toward something more localized. Users could have found themselves eased back into familiar bubbles. I understand the motivation because cross-border political influence campaigns are a genuine problem.

Still, it is a double-edged sword. The wording so far did not block posts from reaching a worldwide audience. It simply adjusted how much the platform pays for content designed to chase that kind of reach. Now there is time to get it right.

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