LOS ANGELES — Twitter owner Elon Musk announced today that he will soon implement "creator monetization for all forms of content" on the platform.
Musk revealed the plan via tweet, on a thread that also included the news that Twitter will soon add the ability "to attach long-form text to tweets, ending absurdity of notepad screenshots."
Asked by a user about the timeline for these changes, Musk replied that details would be available in two weeks.
Several mainstream media outlets, including the Washington Post, had speculated in recent weeks that Musk was working on a paid-video feature, presumed to include adult content.
"The video shift could also push Twitter, which is unusual among major social networks for allowing nudity and consensual pornography, into competition with sites that specialize in adult content," the Post speculated.
On Tuesday, the Post reported on a leaked internal memo that indicated Twitter was "working on a feature that would let people post videos and charge users to view them, with the company taking a cut of the proceeds."
Twitter's Product Trust team, the Post continued, identified the venture as high-risk, citing "risks related to copyrighted content, creator/user trust issues, and legal compliance." An internal company email also stated that the new feature "will undergo a brief internal review on those issues before moving forward."
Although the email did not "specify what types of videos creators might post," the Post noted, "it does raise the concern that users might post copyrighted content or use the feature to scam others. One Twitter employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans, said it seemed like a feature that would probably be used at least partly for adult content."
