Would you pay Facebook? You may have to pay for Facebook

Facebook (now Meta), is currently conducting a limited trial that limits some users from sharing more than two external links in their organic posts per month unless they subscribe. Meta Verified, a paid verification service starting at around €10.80 to €12.90 per month (depending on region and purchase method). The change is targeted primarily at Facebook Pages and Professional Mode profiles (used by businesses and creators), but it could also affect users who share links for articles, blogs, videos or shopping sites.

What is Facebook’s new test for external links?

Meta is a word that has been used to describe a number of things. confirmed The company is experimenting by capping the number posts containing links from external sources for some non-subscribed account. The notifications that users have seen state: “Starting December 16th, certain Facebook profiles who are not Meta Verified may only share links in two organic Facebook posts per month.”

The test is currently only available to users in the UK & US

What impact this may have on Facebook users in general

As the test is restricted and focused on professional users, most everyday users will not notice any changes. Indirect effects include:

• Reduced Content Variability in Your Feed If they reach their limit, friends, family or followers of creators may choose to share fewer news articles, recipes or product links. This may make the feeds seem more repetitive. Instead, you might see more native videos, photos, and text posts.
• Share less news and blogs: Casual users spread interesting articles. A wider rollout may mean that fewer links are shared, which could limit the discovery of external content such as viral stories or useful guides.
• Shift Toward On-Platform ContentFacebook may encourage you to stay on its app longer by encouraging more posts.

Social media analyst Matt Navarra This is because platforms are becoming more “pay to play”, which could discourage organic share-sharing altogether.

Impact on News Sharing and Website Traffic

Even general users play a big role in distributing news by sharing links. This test builds upon a long-term pattern:

• Referrals from Facebook to news websites dropped by nearly 60% between 2018 and 2024. A slight recovery was seen in 2025. Chartbeat data).
• Fewer links shared by users could further reduce traffic for small businesses, bloggers and publishers.
• Facebook could become less useful as a platform for finding external news if the feature is expanded. This might encourage users to visit other platforms or direct websites.

Has it failed before and will it do so again?

One notable failed attempt by Facebook to introduce charging for its services came in late 2023, when the company launched a paid “no-ads” subscription option for Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union, priced at around €9.99 to €12.99 per month. This model, which was intended as a solution to the strict EU privacy regulations that required freely given consent for personal advertising, offered users the choice to either pay for the removal of ads and to limit the use of data for targeting, OR to continue with the free, ad supported version. Privacy advocates were quick to criticize the model, filing complaints with groups such as Noyb (None Of Your Business), which argued that the model violated GDPR guidelines by forcing users into paying a privacy fee rather than giving their true free consent. The European data protection authorities criticized the approach for undermining fundamental human rights. This led to ongoing regulatory scrutiny, forcing Meta to defend its model in court without being able to achieve widespread adoption or settle the controversy.