Under Twitter’s new ad revenue sharing model, only available to certain rightwing “content creators,” is generating thousands of dollars in payments for the influencers, many of whom had been banned by the platform before Elon Musk took over, the Washington Post reports.
Accused sex trafficker Andrew Tate posted that Twitter paid him $20,000. Others like podcaster Tim Pool made $5,800. An anonymous account with the handle “End Wokeness” reported more than $10,000. They are generating revenue from the number of responses and engagements they get, encouraging more and more outrageous posts.
Twitter watchers and former employees, though, have expressed doubts about the legitimacy and sustainability of the program, with some thinking it’s a publicity stunt to spur content creators on rev share to create more. Of course, it could just be a systemic error in Twitter’s accounting, which given Musk’s disastrous ownership record with the platform, would be right on brand.