The platform is penalizing not the generated images, but the generation of characters without disclosure. Limiting recommendations is cheaper than deleting accounts: the accounts still exist, just not visible on the Explore page. The label changed from "Creator" to "Generated Profile," shifting identity from professional to existential. Individual content can be unlabeled, but an entire account with a fake identity must be labeled, with the dividing line drawn at the profile picture.

The capital path is the thousands of exposures in influencer e-commerce. Money flows from brand budgets into accounts with recommendation eligibility. If unlabeled characters drop out of Reels, business order quotes will need to be renegotiated. The cost of virtual characters is computational power, while the cost of real influencers is their face and availability; the platform uses labels to separate and price these two types of supply. Appeals serve as a valve for misjudgments and a step down for insufficient enforcement precision.

The benchmark is that advertisements must disclose they are ads, and election content must disclose funding sources. Social recommendations are at a stage where "generated content is cheap, but generated identities still want to enjoy the trust of real people for free": the dregs of content have already flooded, and the identity layer becomes the next barrier. Not filtering generated videos in the information stream indicates that products still require those seconds, just not that kind of deceptive profile.

Structurally, this represents a transfer of pricing power. The mechanism is: when recommendations determine business order prices, disclosure becomes a permit for entry. Unlabeled characters can still post, but lose the platform's subsidized distribution. The trust premium has been pushed from the algorithm's shadows to the label bar; those unwilling to label must bear the cost of customer acquisition themselves.

ABAB News · Law of Cognition

The platform can choose not to delete accounts, only to turn off non-follower recommendations.
Generated content can remain unlabeled, but generated identities often must be labeled.
Once the trust premium is pushed to the label bar, those who do not label must acquire customers themselves.