X, formerly known as Twitter, appears to have reset its policies and guidelines on content and promotions for paid partnerships on its platform, yet specific advertising rules must be followed for the EU and UK.
An update on X’s paid partnerships policy will mean that gambling and crypto ads will be removed from the its standard index of prohibited industries for products or services that cannot be endorsed by any form of paid partnerships.
It appears that X has reversed its update on 19 February to include gambling within its prohibited categories for Paid Partnerships, effectively blocking influencers from promoting betting operators through disclosed organic posts.
The move has triggered confusion across the crypto and gambling communities, with speculation that broader promotion and content restrictions were imminent.
However, the platform’s latest policy revision, officially updated on Sunday, no longer lists crypto and – most notably – no longer referenced gambling among its prohibited index.
The shift has coincided with a 1 March tweet made by X’s product lead, Nikita Bier, which introduced a mandatory ‘paid partnership’ label for organic posts involving commercial compensation.
The new feature requires influencers and creators to formally disclose when they are promoting third-party products or services in exchange for monetary payment, in-kind benefits, affiliate commission or under commercial agreements such as brand ambassador roles.
Under X’s definition: “A paid partnership exists where a third-party brand provides compensation or incentives to a user to promote its products or services. Disclosure is required whether the arrangement involves gifted products, direct payment, revenue-sharing links or formal endorsement contracts.”
A review of help centre for advertising guidelines provides details on the individual requirements to disclose paid for endorsements and promotions . In the UK, creators should include all “applicable disclosures” to warn audiences of the commercial purpose of content.
Failure to warn of “appropriate disclosure” can result in full enforcement actions of the Committee of Advertising Practices (CAP) and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)”.
In Europe, crypto and all forms of gambling remain under the prohibited category index. However campaigns for EU markets are subject to individual approval to promote gambling as an adult category – as previously detailed on 19 February.
Rounding off the update, X has informed its audiences and users that “anyone can report violations of this policy via the X paid partnerships reporting form“. An X account is not needed to report potential violations.
In announcing the new labelling system, Bier framed the reform as a transparency measure rather than deregulation. Undisclosed promotions, he argued, undermine user trust and the integrity of the platform. The paid partnership label is designed to bring influencer marketing activity into clearer regulatory alignment.
Responsibility for compliance, however, rests with creators and advertisers. X’s policy made it clear that paid partnership content must comply with all applicable laws and regulations in the jurisdictions targeted.
For gambling operators and crypto exchanges, this means local licensing requirements, financial promotion rules and age-restriction standards remain decisive factors.
The update comes as X continues to build out its commercial ecosystem ahead of the anticipated launch of new financial features, including X Money, in the coming months.
However, while the gate appears open once again, the regulatory perimeter has not shifted: transparency is mandatory, and jurisdictional compliance remains non-negotiable.
Political scrutiny remains on X to change its advertising and content policies, in regards to protecting teenage audiences.
Concerns have led to the outright ban of social media in Australia, a decision that was quickly followed by the government of Spain and is under assessment by other countries, including Great Britain.
This article was first published on Affiliate Leaders’ sister title, iGaming Expert.
