The Business of Hate: How X Redistributes Wealth to Extremists

In the wake of Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, the platform has undergone a transformation into a privatized infrastructure that distributes both wealth and visibility—functions traditionally associated with state power. What Musk calls "free speech" is, in practice, a monetized attention economy that disproportionately rewards ideological loyalty, inflammatory content, and outrage-driven engagement.

At the core of this system is X's creator monetization model, including X Premium and revenue sharing. These tools have enabled a form of algorithmic wealth redistribution that funnels funds to far-right influencers, conspiracy theorists, and policy violators [1]Media Matters, 2023: "Right-wing misinformers earned tens of thousands via ad revenue sharing."[2]Media Matters, 2023: "Far-right conspiracy theorist received ad revenue even after violating policies.", while suppressing dissenting or marginalized voices through algorithmic deprioritization, deboosting, and outright bans [3]7amleh, 2023: X continues to silence Palestinian voices online.". The result is not just a reshaped media landscape, but the emergence of a shadow political economy—one where financial and algorithmic incentives align to elevate specific ideologies without oversight, transparency, or accountability.

X now performs state-like functions—distributing money, controlling speech, and setting the terms of public discourse—but without the public interest mandate that legitimizes such power in a democratic context. Instead, it operates as a privately owned propaganda engine.

How It Works, and Who It Serves

X's monetization program is limited to users who subscribe to X Premium. To qualify for ad revenue sharing, a user must pay for a Premium account, have at least 500 followers, and generate 5 million post impressions over a rolling three-month period [4]Digiday, 2023: "Platform payouts revealed.".