WaPo journalist, Taylor Lorenz, confirmed Elon Musk is paying high profile far right content creators, Brian Krassenstein, Andrew Tate, thousands of dollars for posting to the app.
Not all creators who want to monetize will be able to. Creators who apply to the program will have to pass “human review” and there is currently no open application for those interested in joining.
Some nonpolitical contributors expressed frustration with the lack of transparency from the company over the rollout of the program.
“My tweets have generated 100s of millions of impressions for Twitter every year,” Matt Navarra, a social media strategist who runs the tech-focused newsletter and community Geekout, posted on Thursday. “And I’ve been on the platform for 15+ years. It’s pretty lame there is no payout coming my way. Twitter has never generated any income directly for all the content I have put in to it.”
Kanekoa, who describes themselves as an “Independent Citizen Journalist,” is one of numerous far-right accounts allowed back on the platform following Musk’s acquisition. As noted in a report from the liberal non-profit media watchdog Media Matters in March, Musk had long been interacting with the account prior to subscribing.
Kanekoa, who describes themselves as an “Independent Citizen Journalist,” is one of numerous far-right accounts allowed back on the platform following Musk’s acquisition. As noted in a report from the liberal non-profit media watchdog Media Matters in March, Musk had long been interacting with the account prior to subscribing.
Between Dec. 16, 2022 and March 20, according to Media Matters’ analysis, Musk replied to Kanekoa at least 24 times. Musk’s decision to subscribe, which costs a user $5 per month to do, is just the latest nod the billionaire has given to the far-right.
Aside from their membership in the QAnon influencer collective known as “We The Media,” Kanekoa has also been involved with anti-vaccine groups as well as campaigns falsely targeting election software companies for the results of the 2020 election, all hallmarks of the conspiracy.
The first beneficiaries appear to be string of high profile far right influencers who tweeted before the announcement how much they’ve earned as part of the program. Ian Miles Cheong, Benny Johnson, and Ashley St. Claire all touted their earnings.
“Wow. Elon Musk wasn’t kidding. Content monetization is real,” tweeted an anonymous account called End Wokeness, with 1.4 million followers, accompanied by a screenshot showing earnings of over $10,400.
So far, the influencers who have publicly revealed that they’re part of the program are prominent figures on the right. Andrew Tate, for example, who was recently released from jail on rape and human trafficking charges, posted that he’d been paid over $20,000 by Twitter.
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