Snapchat cracks down on fully AI-made videos flooding Spotlight

Snapchat is now drawing a clear line between videos made by humans and those made entirely by machines.

Snapchat is now drawing a clear line between videos made by humans and those made entirely by machines. The company is betting this move will make its Spotlight feed worth scrolling through again.

On Friday, Snap confirmed a major change to its Spotlight recommendation system. Videos that are completely AI-generated will no longer be surfaced through recommendations. Creators can still post this type of content on the platform. However, it will only reach their existing followers going forward. This effectively cuts off the discovery boost that once made Spotlight appealing for fully automated content.

Snap isn’t rejecting AI tools altogether, though. Videos edited or enhanced using Snapchat’s own built-in AI features will remain eligible for recommendations. These videos will also carry a visible label, letting viewers know AI played a role in the process.

According to Snap, the real issue here comes down to authorship, not the technology itself. Content generated purely from a prompt, without any human involved in filming, performing, or editing, is what’s being pushed out of recommendations.

This decision follows similar moves from other major platforms in recent months. YouTube recently revised its monetization policy to exclude videos built around generic, template-based content. That update came after reports last year revealed that several AI-driven creators had built massive followings and earned significant ad revenue through such content.

LinkedIn has made changes of its own as well. The platform is now allowing users to report AI-generated posts. At the same time, it’s removing its built-in AI writing prompt that previously encouraged automated post creation.

Substack has taken things a step further. The platform introduced a detection system designed to identify AI-generated articles. Speaking on the matter, CEO Chris Best warned that platforms which continue rewarding fake, synthetic content risk starting what he called a race to the bottom.

As for Snap, some details remain unclear. The company has not explained exactly how it plans to distinguish fully AI-generated videos from AI-assisted ones at a larger scale. It also hasn’t confirmed whether this policy will eventually expand beyond just Spotlight recommendations into other parts of the app.

For now, though, the move adds to a growing pattern across social media. Platforms increasingly appear to be prioritising authentic, human-made content over mass-produced material flooding user feeds every day.