X Overhauls Revenue Sharing to Combat Geo-Spoofing and Promote Local Content

X (formerly Twitter) has announced a significant alteration to its revenue-sharing model, aiming to discourage users from feigning American identity and to foster content relevant to their actual geographic regions. The policy, effective March 26, is a direct response to revelations concerning numerous accounts falsely claiming US residency.

New Policy Focuses on Regional Engagement

Nikita Bier, X's Head of Product, confirmed the policy shift, stating that incentives will now heavily favor engagement originating from a user's declared home region. This move seeks to encourage content that resonates with audiences in the user's country, neighboring nations, and those who share their language.

Bier explicitly mentioned the goal to "disincentivize gaming the attention of US or Japanese accounts," highlighting these two countries as having the largest user bases on the platform.

Transparency Feature Exposed Geo-Spoofing

The catalyst for this policy change appears to be X's recently introduced location transparency feature. Late last year, this feature unveiled that dozens of popular accounts, many posting pro-Trump sentiments and general US political commentary, were actually operating from countries like India, Kenya, and Nigeria, despite presenting themselves as US-based. These accounts had garnered millions of interactions.

Encouraging Global Community and Content

Bier emphasized that the revised policy aims to create a "much richer community" by promoting posts relevant to people across all parts of the world. While users are still free to comment on American politics, Bier clarified that X will no longer remunerate content focused on US politics when produced by accounts based overseas.

For users in countries with smaller user bases, Bier suggested focusing on day-to-day experiences to generate local engagement and revenue.

This policy adjustment by X underscores a growing challenge for social media platforms: maintaining authentic user representation while distributing incentives. For Olley News readers, it highlights the complex interplay between platform economics, national identity, and the global spread of political discourse.

Key Takeaways

  • X is changing its revenue-sharing policy to prioritize engagement from a user's home region.
  • The move is intended to deter users from falsely claiming US or Japanese residency to gain attention and revenue.
  • The decision follows revelations from X's location transparency feature, which exposed foreign-based accounts posing as Americans.
  • The new policy takes effect on Thursday, March 26.
  • Content creators will be encouraged to produce material relevant to their local communities, though discussing US politics is still permitted, without overseas payment for such content.