Snap joins YouTube, LinkedIn in AI slop crackdown

Snapchat has drawn a hard line between human creativity and machine output, and it's betting that line will make Spotlight worth scrolling again.

The company confirmed on Friday that its Spotlight recommendation algorithm will no longer surface videos that are wholly AI-generated. Creators can still post that content, but it won't reach anyone outside their existing following, cutting off the discovery pipeline that made Spotlight attractive for automated content in the first place.

Snap isn't rejecting AI tools altogether. Videos edited or enhanced using Snapchat's own AI features remain eligible for recommendations and will carry a visible marker showing AI was involved.

The distinction is about authorship, not technology: content generated entirely by a prompt, with no human filming, performing or editing, is what's being demoted.

This action comes hot on the heels of other major social media networks taking similar action. YouTube has updated its monetisation policy to exclude uploads that rely on generic and template-based content, following reports last year that AI-driven content creators have garnered millions of subscribers and ad dollars.

LinkedIn will give people the ability to report AI-generated content as well as remove its own AI post-generation prompt. Substack has implemented a detection system to detect AI-generated articles, with CEO Chris Best arguing that platforms rewarding fake content will enter a "race to the bottom".

Snap hasn't spelt out exactly how it will distinguish AI-made videos from AI-assisted ones at scale, nor whether the policy will extend beyond Spotlight recommendations into other parts of the app.