Greenville library faces Facebook paywall for posting city links

Daniel Starks, communications manager for Greenville, Texas, received a notice this month that the city library’s Facebook page could add links to only two posts per month. The page, which identifies the library as a government building and holds Meta verification, had already used both allowed links. To post more, the city would need a Meta One subscription costing at least $50. Starks oversees nearly a dozen city pages for a municipality of about 35,000 residents, where more than half of official communications rely on directing people to the city website.

Starks instructed staff to stop placing URLs in main posts and instead add them in the comment section to avoid the cap. He created a graphic to inform followers of the change. "When you have an official governmental entity that is trying to get out in some instances very, very, important information, and we're being paywalled by Facebook all because we're trying to post a link, that's a problem," he said.

Bethany English, co-president of the East Side Pawject, a small Indianapolis group organizing pet food pantries, encountered a similar barrier last week. Her page, which has just under 1,000 followers, had exhausted its two monthly link allowances. An "expert" plan offering 20 links per month would cost her group $150. English is considering using dedicated Facebook events or asking board members to share links from their personal profiles, which remain exempt from the restrictions.

Jeff Bannister, marketing manager for SparkPoint, a North Carolina nonprofit focused on public health in Transylvania County, called the price of $50 for eight links "crazy." He noted that the return on investment "seems almost negative" for small organizations. SparkPoint is exploring ways for local nonprofits to share information directly with one another to reduce reliance on the platform, though Bannister observed that much of the county still operates primarily on Facebook.

Meta has tested paid linking for nearly a year, initially within Meta Verified and now as a feature of its Meta One plans. The $49.99 monthly tier allows eight Facebook links, the $149.99 tier allows 20, and only the $499.99 tier offers unlimited access. The entry-level $14.99 tier includes no extra Facebook link sharing. A Meta spokesperson stated on October 23 that the company is testing whether link sharing should be part of the subscription and that pages must list "nonprofit" in their category section for the system to recognize their status.

David Diskin, president of California Freethought Day, was quoted prices of $40 for eight links, $119 for 20, or $399 for unlimited access earlier this month, days before the group's annual event in Sacramento. The restriction was lifted this week without explanation. Diskin noted, "It wasn't until after our big fundraiser had passed that they fixed the problem." Meta’s help center and plan descriptions do not currently state that the link restriction is a test.

Meta’s systems have not recognized some organizations as nonprofits despite their use of the company's fundraising tools or their status stated elsewhere. Starks and other public officials remain uncertain about the criteria for exemption as the trial continues.