X is scrapping its Creator Revenue Sharing program and putting an originality test in its place. The Original Content Rewards Program is open for applications now, TechCrunch reports. Creators already in the old program keep earning through Sept. 7 and can move over starting Sept. 8.
The company wants posts that carry the creator’s own voice, perspective, expertise or creativity. Its language covers original ideas, reporting, commentary and creative work.
Pure originals qualify. So do posts that meaningfully transform someone else’s material. Straight reuploads don’t, and neither does anything explicit, misleading or otherwise against X’s rules.
X puts more emphasis on original content
X has already pushed original posts toward better visibility, and it has gone after some AI-generated material under its deepfake policies.
Payouts aren’t the only lever the platform has been pulling. Recent additions include a gaming program and Exclusive Threads, which lets certain creators put posts behind a paywall.
Aggregation is the target here. Reposting popular material no longer leads anywhere, so the judgment call becomes how much of the account’s own input a post carries.
A different approach to creator monetization
The old model paid on activity and engagement around a post.
The new one weighs the post itself. Reporting, commentary, creative work, expertise and real transformations of existing material can all qualify. Accounts built on reposting can’t.
That reads as a warning shot at the aggregator accounts, which have built large followings on other people’s work. Under the new rules, the audience stays and the check doesn’t.