No it was real back then, but, as always misreported, as people have attention span of a hamster. What they were trying to do is clean up the walls (at least free posts) and free channels to have it safer and eligible for promotion and well CC companies do not complain so bad. Which is how it should be used in the first place, as a social network with fair profit sharing, no ads and clean monetization structure (and no agency between celebs and fans but that is whole another story).
It didn't come to that because, well everyone threatened to leave, and few competitors came out of it so they chickened out, but those who understood the principle enjoy the fruits so to say.