Key Points
- Meta is testing a new policy on Facebook that limits link-sharing for some creators.
- Test users who don’t pay for Meta Verified can share links in only two posts per month.
- To share more links, creators must subscribe to the service, which costs at least $14.99 a month.
- Meta says it’s a “limited test” affecting a small number of professional accounts.
Meta is testing a new plan that would require some Facebook creators to pay a monthly fee to share more than a couple of links to external websites. The move is raising alarms among creators who rely on the platform to drive traffic to their own content.
Under the new test, creators who don’t subscribe to Meta Verified will be limited to sharing links in just two organic posts per month. To share more, they will need to sign up for the paid subscription service, which starts at $14.99 a month.
A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the test, describing it as a “limited test” to see if the ability to share more links adds “additional value” for subscribers. The company says the test is currently affecting a small number of creators and pages that use Facebook’s “professional mode.” Publishers are not part of the test for now.
While Meta is framing this as a small experiment, it’s a significant and potentially troubling shift.
Many creators and small businesses rely on Facebook to reach their audiences and drive traffic to their websites, blogs, or online stores. Putting this basic function behind a paywall could be a major blow.
This isn’t the first time Meta has locked a key feature behind its subscription service. Creators are already frustrated that they have to pay for better customer support. Linking to sharing a premium feature is likely to be even less popular and could push many creators to look for other platforms.
