In recent days, media reports have revealed several instances where Facebook has paid for content that could be deemed controversial.

ABC News Verify found Facebook had monetised Australian accounts described as having white nationalist, neo-Nazi or anti-vaccine links. According to the report, some of the content they posted even appeared to conflict with Meta’s own monetisation policies.

Meta did not answer questions about the individual pages, and their earnings are not public. However, it did state if creators breach their policies their earnings will be disabled, and they may be removed entirely for repeated breaches.

Payment is different from simply allowing contentious speech to remain online. It creates a commercial relationship between platforms and the people who post content on them, and gives creators a reason to produce more of what performs.

“Meme factories” in countries like Indonesia, India and China exploit this, posting content on pages such as pro-One Nation groups without really knowing who Pauline Hanson is.

So how does it work, and what does it mean for the content you see?

How Facebook content monetisation works

Meta introduced its Facebook content monetisation program in 2024 by combining several previous monetisation features, such as ads on reels. Eligible creators can earn money from public videos, stories, photos and text posts.

The program remains invitation-only with no publicly available criteria on whom Meta will invite. However, creators can register their interest to join.

Meta describes the system as........

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