Facebook has announced a change to its algorithm that will focus on demoting "unoriginal" content to help boost material from the original creators.
This should give creators more reason to keep posting, by making sure they get all the credit and engagement from their work, rather than losing out to people who steal their ideas.
So what does Facebook consider "unoriginal" content?
According to Facebook: “We love it when creators reshare content, add commentary in a reaction video or join in on a trend, adding their unique take. What we want to combat is the repeated reposting of content from other creators without permission or meaningful enhancements.”
This means content with added commentary and an original twist is fine, but material that is an exact copy of another creator's work will be penalised. This makes sense, both as a way to reward creators and to keep users interested.
Facebook says that accounts found to be repeatedly misusing someone else’s videos, photos, or text will lose access to monetisation schemes on the platform. They will also see the reach of everything they share reduced.
“In addition, if our systems detect duplicate videos on Facebook, we will reduce the distribution of the copies so that original creators can get the visibility that they deserve. We’re also exploring ways to provide proper attribution to creators. For example, we’re testing adding links on duplicate videos that point viewers to the original piece of content.”
This move is similar to a change made by YouTube, which has stepped up its enforcement of “mass-produced and unoriginal” content. This is to keep up with the latest tactics used by accounts that simply copy others, including AI-generated fakes.
On TikTok, for example, there has been a wave of AI deepfake videos that perfectly copy the videos of popular creators, gaining attention by stealing their content.
Neither Facebook nor YouTube has mentioned this specific issue, but YouTube did note its update was designed to tackle what "inauthentic" content looks like today, hinting at new copycat behaviours like AI.
It seems likely that this is the wider focus of the new push—to discourage copycats from stealing creators’ work to build up these fake accounts.
As Facebook notes, it also builds on Meta's effort to promote original content. Last year, Instagram stopped recommending accounts that only aggregate content from others and has since tried to replace re-posts with original content where possible.
Ideally, this will ensure original creators get more of the credit and attention, helping them to better earn money from their work. These new measures are another way to ensure the focus goes to the right people.
