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Facebook's parent company, Meta, is conducting a limited test where profiles without a paid subscription could be restricted to posting just two external web links per month.

The Trial's Parameters

This experiment at present includes a subset of Facebook pages operating in Professional Mode, which is typically utilized by creators and influencers to monetize their posts. While news organizations are not part of this test, the long-term implications could prove substantial.

"Starting 16 December, certain Facebook profiles without Meta Verified will be limited to sharing two organic posts per month."

A History of Retreat

This move follows years of Meta deliberately retreating from news distribution. Industry analysts note that after withdrawing from publisher payments and restricting news sharing in Canada, Meta has signaled strongly that news is not a priority.

Publishers already experienced a steep decline in online traffic following a policy change last year to de-prioritise news in favor of short-form and engaging video. While traffic had been recovering in 2024, it was still lower by approximately half compared to the previous year.

The Push for Subscriptions

The new test is understood to be a wider effort to encourage users to sign up for Meta Verified. This paid tier ranges in price from £9.99 to almost four hundred pounds monthly and offers extra features like a verified badge and improved account protection.

• A company representative said: "This is a limited test to see if the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links provides extra benefit for Meta Verified subscribers."
• Some experts suggest this move to charge for reach may be linked to Meta's costly investments in other areas, like the virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

A Potential Silver Lining?

It is worth noting that earlier in the year, Meta announced a shift towards a more personalized approach for news and politics. Subsequent analysis indicated this could have resulted in increased publisher content showing up again for some users.

For example, traffic from Facebook to certain newspaper websites was said to increase significantly in the early months of this year.

Ultimately, this test highlights the continuing struggle between giant tech networks seeking fresh income sources and publishers that rely on them for readers and visibility.