X’s head of product just admitted what every frustrated creator already knows: the platform’s biggest accounts are professional thieves.
Nikita Bier posted Monday that “many videos from top accounts are simply stolen from other users, sometimes 5 years after they originally went viral.” He added that videos now make up close to half of all impressions on X. Translation: half the content people see is likely ripped off.
This isn’t a bug. It’s the feature.
Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
Remember when Elon Musk bought Twitter and promised to “prioritize original content creators”? Remember when everyone clapped? Yeah, well, the algorithm still rewards the biggest accounts with the thinnest ethics. A creator spends weeks making a video. A “top account” reposts it without credit. The repost gets 50 million views. The creator gets a notification that someone used their clip and zero compensation.
“Many videos from top accounts are simply stolen from other users, sometimes 5 years after they originally went viral.” — Nikita Bier, X head of product
Bier framed this as an opportunity. X is rolling out new video tools — editing, trimming, and better analytics — so that “original creators can get more visibility.” But here’s the catch: these tools are exactly what thieves need to polish their stolen goods.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Let’s do the math. If half of all impressions on X come from videos, and a significant chunk of those are stolen, then the entire engagement economy is built on theft. Creators are the unpaid labor force. Top accounts are the distributors. X is the middleman taking a cut of every ad that runs against a stolen clip.
And X knows it. Bier admitted the five-year gap. That means someone’s 2019 video about a cat playing piano is being reposted in 2026 by an account with 10 million followers. The original creator? They might not even know. And if they do, there’s no way to take it down without a legal threat.
The “Solution” That Isn’t
Here’s what X announced: a video tab, better editing tools, and a “copyright manager” that sounds like a DMCA portal with a fresh coat of paint. None of this stops the theft. None of this credits creators. None of this pays them.
What would stop the theft is algorithmic deboosting of reposted content. Or a requirement that reposts include a link to the original. Or, God forbid, a revenue share for the actual creator. But that would hurt engagement. And engagement is all X cares about now.
“If half of all impressions on X come from videos, and a significant chunk of those are stolen, then the entire engagement economy is built on theft.”
Bier’s post reads like a confession wrapped in a press release. He’s telling us, plainly, that the system is broken. But instead of fixing it, X is giving thieves better scissors.
Creators, You Have Been Warned
If you make original video content, X is not your friend. Every minute you spend editing a clip is a minute someone else will profit from it. The platform’s new tools will make it easier to steal, not easier to create.
The only real solution is to watermark everything. And even that’s not enough. Top accounts will just crop out your handle. X won’t stop them. The algorithm rewards them.
So what do you do? Post your best work on platforms that actually protect creators. Use X for short, time-sensitive clips that lose value fast. And don’t expect credit. You won’t get it.
The Verdict
Nikita Bier’s honesty is refreshing. But honesty without action is just confession. X knows its top accounts are thieves. It’s giving them more tools. And it’s betting you won’t leave.
Don’t take that bet.
