Latest news with #FacebookFeed
Mint
a day ago
- Business
- Mint
Facebook rolls out new rules to curb spam, takes down 10 million fake profiles
Meta has announced that it is cracking down on 'unoriginal' content on Facebook in a bid to 'protect and elevate creators sharing original content'. The move comes shortly after YouTube implemented a similar policy that demonetises content deemed 'repetitious' or 'inauthentic'. In a blog post outlining its new policy, Meta stated that it has launched a long-term initiative to make the Facebook Feed more relevant and to support authentic creators by targeting 'spammy content'. The company noted that it has taken action against 500,000 accounts engaged in spammy behaviour or fake engagement by demoting their comments and reducing the distribution of their content to prevent these accounts from monetising. Meta also revealed that around 10 million impersonator profiles have been removed from Facebook for impersonating large content creators. Facebook defines unoriginal content as content that 'reuses or repurposes another creator's content repeatedly without crediting them'. Meta clarified that it does not intend to cut down on reaction or criticism videos but aims to address the repeated reposting of another creator's content without permission. The company stated that accounts that improperly reuse videos, photos or text posts will lose access to Facebook's monetisation programmes for a period of time and will see reduced distribution on all their shared content. Facebook noted that it has technology that can detect duplicate videos and reduce their distribution. Meta added that reducing the distribution of unoriginal content on the platform should help original creators gain the visibility they deserve. It is also testing a new method to provide proper attribution to creators, including adding links on duplicate videos that direct viewers to the original content. The new changes will roll out on Facebook in the coming months. However, given Meta's history, it would not be surprising if these rules extend to its other platforms, such as Instagram, in the near future.
CNBC
a day ago
- Business
- CNBC
Meta removes 10 million Facebook profiles in effort to combat spam
Meta on Monday said it's removed about 10 million profiles for impersonating large content producers through the first half of 2025 as part of an effort by the company to combat "spammy content." The crackdown is part of Meta's broader effort to make the Facebook Feed more relevant and authentic by taking action against and removing accounts that engage in spammy behavior, such content created using artificial intelligence tools. As part of that initiative, Meta is also rolling out stricter measures to promote original posts from creators, the company said in a blog post. Facebook also took action against approximately 500,000 accounts that it identified to be engaged in inauthentic behavior and spam. These actions included demoting comments and reducing distribution of content, which are intended to make it harder for these accounts to monetize their posts. Meta said that unoriginal content is when images or videos are reused without crediting the original creator. Meta said it now has technology that will detect duplicate videos and reduce the distribution of that content. The action against spam and inauthentic content comes as Meta increases its investment in AI, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday announcing plans to spend "hundreds of billions of dollars" on AI compute infrastructure to bring the company's first supercluster online next year. This mandate comes at a time when AI is making it easier to mass-produce content throughout social media platforms. Other platforms are also taking action to combat the increase of spammy, low-quality content on social media, also known as "AI slop." Google's YouTube announced a change in policy this month that prevents content that is mass-produced or repetitive from being eligible for being awarded revenue. This announcement sparked confusion on social media, with many users believing this was a reversal on YouTube's stance on AI content. However, YouTube clarified that the policy change is aimed at curbing unoriginal, spammy and repetitive videos. "We welcome creators using AI tools to enhance their storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible to monetize," said a spokesperson for YouTube in a blog post to clarify the new policy. YouTube's new policy change will take affect on Tuesday.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
Meta finally acknowledges that Facebook has a major spam problem
Meta is finally acknowledging that Facebook's feed is filled with too many spammy posts. In an update, the company says it plans to start 'cracking down' on some of the worst offenders. 'Facebook Feed doesn't always serve up fresh, engaging posts that you consistently enjoy,' the company writes. 'We're working on it.' Specifically, Meta says it will lower the reach of creators that share posts with "long, distracting captions' as well as posts with captions that are irrelevant or unrelated to the shared content. These accounts will also no longer be eligible for monetization. Likewise, the company says it's taking 'more aggressive' steps to combat 'spam networks that coordinate fake engagement.' This includes making comments from these accounts less visible, and removing Facebook pages meant to 'inflate reach.' Meta is also testing a feature that allows users to anonymously downvote comments in order to flag them as not 'useful.' The update comes as Meta is trying to revamp Facebook to make it more appealing to 'young adults.' The company recently brought back a tab for friends content, in an update Mark Zuckerberg described as making the platform more like 'OG Facebook.' Notably though, Meta's update doesn't mention one of the more persistent forms of engagement bait that's emerged on Facebook over the last year: AI slop. The phenomenon, which has been extensively documented by 404 Media, involved bizarre, often nonsensical AI-generated images — like the now infamous 'Shrimp Jesus' — that serve little purpose other than to farm engagement for people trying to make money on or off Facebook. These spammers are often aided by Facebook's own algorithm, which boosts the posts, researchers have found. AI slop and engagement bait aren't the only types of low-quality posts that have overwhelmed users' Facebook feeds in recent years. I regularly see posts from pages that seem to do nothing but screenshot old Reddit posts from r/AITA, or recycle old news about celebrities I don't follow or particularly care about. Meta's reports on the most widely-viewed content on its platform regularly feature anodyne posts that are engineered to rack up millions of comments, like those that ask users to comment 'amen' or solve basic math equations. Posts like that may not fit neatly into Meta's latest crackdown, though it's unlikely many Facebook users are actually enjoying this content. The company does note it's also trying to 'elevate' the creators that are actually sharing original content, including by cracking down on accounts that steal their work. But given how much easier it is to make AI slop than good original content, it could be a long time before Meta is able to get Facebook's spam problem under control.
