Facebook's Original Content Rules and What They Mean for How You Write

What Meta actually said

In an announcement published on its newsroom on 13 March 2026, titled "Rewarding Original Creators on Facebook," Meta announced updated original content guidelines clarifying what does and doesn't count as original. In the same announcement the company stated that views and time spent watching original Reels on Facebook approximately doubled in the second half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, that it removed more than twenty million accounts impersonating large content creators during 2025, and that impersonation reports related to those creators dropped by 33%.

What counts as original and what doesn't

According to that announcement:

• Original: content filmed or produced directly by the creator or the owner of the Profile or Page.
• Also original: Reels that selectively incorporate third-party material — remixes or overlays — provided the focus is an on-screen presence presenting something genuinely new: fresh information, analysis, or substantial improvements to a storyline.
• Not original: simply watching along, reacting with facial expressions, stitching multiple clips together, or narrating what's already on screen, without adding anything meaningful.
• Also not original: duplicative content or minor edits to another creator's post, such as re-uploading a post the Page had no role in creating, or low-value changes like adding borders, inserting captions, or changing the reel's speed.

Meta added that creators not adding substantial creative value will see their content deprioritised, and may have their account deemed non-recommendable and demonetised if they continue posting primarily unoriginal content. It also noted that creators can appeal originality decisions.

Why this is a writing issue, not a posting issue

Read the "not original" list again: every item shares one absence — text that adds a new layer. The difference between a clip that shows someone else's material and gets deprioritised, and one that uses the same material and gets recommended, is what you wrote over it.

Which means the originality test has effectively become a script test: do you have something to say about this material, or are you just replaying it?

Three questions before using material that isn't yours

• What am I adding? If the answer is "general commentary," it's probably not enough. "Historical context," "an explanation of why," or "a contrasting personal experience" are real additions.
• Does the clip still make sense if the borrowed material is removed? If it does, the work is yours and the material is a witness in it. If it collapses, you're a conduit.
• Could I write this into a card before filming? A genuine addition can be drafted in advance. An improvised reaction can't.

What this changes in your script structure

Give every clip that uses external material at least two cards: one for the borrowed material, one for what you add. If that second card comes out empty or thin, the clip isn't worth posting — not just because the platform will suppress it, but because it offers nothing. The card structure is covered in How to Write a YouTube Video Script in Bardiyah, Step by Step.

A note on the wider direction

Facebook's update isn't an isolated case; it's part of a trend across platforms toward distinguishing original work from recycled work. The rule that survives shifting policy is to build what nobody can copy: your experience, your access to particular people and places, and your angle. All of which start at the idea stage, as covered in Where Do Content Ideas Come From? Six Practical Sources.

Source: Meta, "Rewarding Original Creators on Facebook," Meta Newsroom, 13 March 2026.