Meta erases 10 million fake profiles, strengthens content rules
Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Credit: AFP
Meta deletes 10 million fake profiles, strengthens content rules
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has stepped up its efforts to clean up the platform, announcing the removal of over 10 million fake profiles and 500,000 spam accounts in the first half of 2025.
The company said the action forms part of a broader crackdown on impersonation, copycat content, and fake engagement, all aimed at promoting originality and ensuring that genuine creators receive greater visibility.
According to Meta, the clampdown also targets accounts that recycle or repost content from others without permission or meaningful changes. Such accounts will not only lose access to monetisation tools but will also see their content reach reduced on Facebook feeds.
“We’re making progress. In the first half of 2025, we took action on around 500,000 accounts engaged in spammy behaviour or fake engagement.
We also removed about 10 million profiles impersonating large content producers,” Meta said in a blog post on Monday.
The tech giant explained that repeatedly sharing unoriginal material, whether videos, photos, or text, undermines the platform by crowding out authentic voices and making it harder for fresh creators to break through.
To support genuine creators, Meta is introducing new tools that will link duplicated content back to the original post. The move is designed to surface authentic work and ensure the rightful creators get the credit they deserve.
“Pages and profiles that post mostly original content tend to enjoy wider distribution across Facebook. Simply stitching clips together or adding a watermark will no longer count as meaningful editing. Content that provides real value and tells an authentic story is likely to perform better,” Meta stated.
The company also issued a warning against sharing watermarked content from other platforms, saying this could lead to penalties such as reduced reach or loss of monetisation opportunities.
As part of its update, Meta has added post-level insights to the Professional Dashboard, allowing content creators to track the performance of their posts. Creators can now also check their Support Home screen to see if they are at risk of facing restrictions on their posts or earnings.
Meanwhile, Google’s YouTube has announced a similar policy, saying it will no longer allow mass-produced or overly repetitive content to earn advertising revenue.
The update initially sparked confusion among users on social media, with some fearing it was a reversal of YouTube’s stance on AI-generated content. However, YouTube clarified that the new rules are not aimed at creators who use AI to enhance their storytelling.
“We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetise,” YouTube said in a statement.
Both platforms say the new rules are part of wider efforts to maintain content quality and protect creators in the evolving digital economy.
