Elon Musk announced on Sunday that posts on the X platform containing misinformation will now be considered “ineligible for revenue share.” This move is aimed at promoting accuracy over sensationalism within the platform’s content. Musk emphasized that attempts to manipulate the community-based fact-checking system, known as Community Notes, for the purpose of demonetizing individuals will be easily detectable due to the platform’s open-source code and data transparency.
Key Takeaway
X posts containing misinformation will now be ineligible for revenue share, as part of the platform’s push for accuracy and combating sensationalism.
Community Notes is an inclusive platform where anyone can contribute by providing additional context, addressing important omissions, or correcting errors in posts. Users from diverse perspectives are then able to rate the helpfulness of these contributions, with the most widely approved notes rising to the top. This crowd-sourced fact-checking feature is X’s latest effort to combat the proliferation of misinformation on the platform, particularly in relation to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
In October, X introduced various updates to enhance accuracy through Community Notes. These updates included a mechanism for faster ratings of fact-checks, enabling accurate notes to be published more swiftly. Additionally, a notification feature alerts users whose activities have been fact-checked, encouraging the removal or modification of misleading posts for greater contextual clarity.
While today’s announcement aims to reduce the spread of sensationalist content generated by creators seeking financial incentives, it is uncertain if these measures, alongside other recent updates, can fully address the issue of misinformation. With ongoing conflicts like the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine war, X will continue to face challenges in countering the influx of misleading information.
X has not disclosed the exact number of users engaged in the platform’s creator economy. The participation is likely limited to X Premium subscribers, which account for less than 1% of the platform’s over 500 million monthly active users. It is important to note that while Community Notes users are described as diverse, X has not provided detailed demographic information about its contributors.
