Penalties for sharing fact-checked content

UPDATED

APR 2, 2024

If you share content on Facebook or Instagram that’s rated by one of our third-party fact-checking partners, we apply penalties to the content and, if you do it repeatedly, to your account, Page, Group, or website. These penalties are separate from strikes for violating our Community Standards or Community Guidelines system. We don’t remove content just because it was fact-checked.

If you post content that one of our third-party fact-checkers rates False, Altered or Partly False, or we detect it as near identical, it may receive reduced distribution on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. For this content, as well as content fact-checkers rate Missing Context, we’ll also apply a notice with more context, filter it from recommendation surfaces such as Explore, Suggested Posts and Reels, and not allow it in ads.

If you repeatedly post content rated False or Altered on Facebook or Instagram, we’ll take several actions that will last for a subsequent 90 days. For example, we’ll move all of your posts lower in Feed on Facebook or Feed and Stories on Instagram so people are less likely to see them. If you continue to post such content, we’ll move your posts even lower. Pages, groups and websites will lose their ability to earn money and advertise, and Pages will lose their ability to register as a news Page. We also take steps to inform other people about your status; for example, we won’t recommend your Page, group or Instagram account to others and we may display a warning when someone tries to follow your Page. Pages and Groups can see how fact-checks are affecting them through Page Quality or Groups Quality.

There are rare occasions when we may not apply a penalty. For example, if you post the same or very similar content repeatedly, and a third-party fact-checker rates it False or Altered within a short period of time, we may only apply one penalty to your account. We do this to make sure you have enough notice that your post was rated.