X is Cracking Down on Accounts That Rip Off the Work of Photographers and Other Creators

The social media platform X has announced it is cracking down on large accounts that rip off the work of smaller creators to game the revenue-sharing system.

In an announcement, X’s head of product Nikita Bier says his team has “identified a number of large accounts that have been programatically reuploading content.” Bier says these accounts will circumvent crediting the original author.

Over the past month, we have identified a number of large accounts that have been programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts to game the revenue share program and circumvent crediting the original author.

We are now identifying these posts and allocating the…

— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) May 23, 2026

Bier says that his department is now “identifying these posts and allocating the impressions entirely to the creator,” while urging X users to use the Share Video or Quote feature to share insightful commentary about the piece of media and ensure the original creators are properly attributed.

Bier specifically called out Mario Nawfal, who has 3.5 million followers and hosts the largest live discussion show on X. Nawfal recently shared an ABC News video capturing a reporter’s reaction as shots rang out at The White House. A Community Note attached to Nawfal’s post says: “OP stole this video without providing credit.”

“Your revenue was reduced by 90% last cycle and we’re running out of room to reduce it more,” Bier writes underneath Nawfal’s post. Business Insider reports that Nawfal claims the Reshare button doesn’t work for longer tweets. That response has also been community noted, essentially calling Nawfal a liar and a “chronic content thief.”

A Headache

While this issue affects all social media platforms — Instagram also targets content thieves — the platform formerly known as Twitter has long suffered from users stealing the work of creators, a problem that seemed to become worse under the stewardship of Elon Musk.

Last year, astrophotographer Paul M. Smith had multiple accounts steal his video of the Geminids meteor shower. Big accounts like “Curiosity” ripped off his work for their own benefit. After failing to get X to do anything, Smith pursued those accounts with DMCA notices and had most of them removed.

To make matters worse, if a photographer like Smith complains, the large accounts will simply block him. The Massimo account on X blocked Smith after he filed a successful DMCA against it. Smith told PetaPixel that Massimo was provided immunity by Musk because it’s one of his favorite accounts.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.