--- title: "Twitter Now Paying Accused Sex Trafficker to Keep Posting" description: "Almost half a year after announcing Twitter would pay content creators, Twitter CEO Elon Musk has finally made good on his promise." date: "2023-07-15" modified: "2023-07-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/twitter-paying-accused-sex-trafficker" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "elon musk" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Twitter Now Paying Accused Sex Trafficker to Keep Posting ![Almost half a year after announcing Twitter would pay content creators, Twitter CEO Elon Musk has finally made good on his promise.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Posting Bail Twitter CEO Elon Musk is cutting some substantial checks in a bid to keep popular personalities — including an accused sex trafficker — on the social media platform amid millions of disillusioned users [switching over]() to alternatives ranging from Meta's Threads to Jack Dorsey's Bluesky. In February, Musk [announced]() that he would share ad revenue with Twitter "creators" — though only ones subscribed to Twitter Blue — who generate a considerable amount of traffic for the website, a scheme reminiscent of YouTube's Partner Program. "Starting today, Twitter will share ad revenue with creators for ads that appear in their reply threads," Musk [tweeted]() at the time. Of course, such a feature didn't actually materialize as an increasingly distracted Musk turned his attention to [more pressing matters](). But now, almost half a year later, the mercurial CEO has seemingly made good on his promise, notifying a who's-who of Twitter users that they're getting big payouts. ## Musk Busks Perhaps most notably, toxic manosphere personality Andrew Tate — who was [recently released from jail]() following rape and human trafficking charges — revealed that he got around $20,000 from Musk. Another far-right influencer, Rogan O'Handley, [called]() his payout a "nice turnaround from being banned by Twitter 1.0 for almost 2 years to now being paid to post." Others were left out in the cold, despite generating "hundreds of impressions for Twitter every year," as social media strategist Matt Navarra [tweeted](). As [*The Washington Post* reports](), Twitter's scheme is as sketchy as it sounds. Creators who apply for the program will have to pass a "human review." In other words, there's a good chance Musk handpicked a number of his buddies and allies to keep them posting on the floundering platform. One former Twitter executive told the *WaPo* that "any kind of content monetization we’ve done in the past was based on a revenue model. This just feels pulled out of thin air for a specific subset of creators that he wanted to placate." "It really feels like they’re arbitrarily writing checks to people they like, which is not a sustainable creator strategy," the former executive added. **More on Twitter:** *[Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter Killer Crushes 100 Million Users in Just 5 Days]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()