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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 links to other sites per month.

Details of the Test

This pilot program at present includes a subset of Facebook pages using Professional Mode features, which is often used by content creators to earn money from their posts. While news organizations are not part of this test, the broader impact could prove substantial.

"Starting 16 December, some Facebook accounts without Meta Verified will be limited to sharing two free posts per month."

Stepping Back from News

This move follows Meta's multi-year strategic withdrawal from hosting news content. Industry analysts note that after ending deals to pay publishers and restricting news sharing in Canada, Meta has signaled strongly that news is no longer strategic.

Publishers already experienced a steep decline in online traffic following a 2023 decision to de-prioritise news in favor of short-form and engaging video. Although visits were starting to rebound in 2024, it remained down by approximately half compared to the previous year.

Driving Verified Sign-ups

The new test is understood to be a broader campaign to encourage users to sign up for Meta Verified. This subscription service costs from £9.99 to almost four hundred pounds monthly and provides additional perks like a blue checkmark and enhanced security.

• A company representative said: "This is a small experiment to see if the option to post an increased volume of posts with links provides extra benefit for Meta Verified subscribers."
• Analysts theorize this shift towards monetization 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 tailored feed for news and politics. Later reports indicated this could have resulted in increased publisher content reappearing in feeds for some users.

For example, traffic from Facebook to certain newspaper websites reportedly grew by a notable margin in the first part of 2025.

Ultimately, this trial underscores the continuing struggle between giant tech networks seeking new revenue streams and publishers that depend upon them for traffic and audience reach.