The Page Whose Reach Suddenly Collapsed
It was publishing daily, and its numbers were steady.
Then in one week the reach fell to a quarter. No warning, no violation, no notification.
So he reviewed what he was posting: clips where he takes someone else's material and lays a comment over it, clips where he sits watching a clip with his reaction on screen, clips merging several other people's shots into one.
All of which had worked months earlier.
What changed wasn't the quality of his work, but that the platform had started distinguishing between people who add something and people who merely re-present. And he was in the second group without realising.
What Meta Actually Said
In a statement published in its newsroom on 13 March 2026 titled "Rewarding Original Creators on Facebook", the company announced an update to its original content guidelines clarifying what counts as original and what doesn't.
The statement noted that views of original clips on Facebook and their watch time nearly doubled in the second half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, that during 2025 it removed over twenty million accounts impersonating large creators, and that impersonation reports relating to them fell by 33%.
What Counts as Original and What Doesn't
According to that statement:
Original: content filmed or produced directly by its creator or the page owner.
Also original: clips using third-party material selectively, such as remixes or overlays, provided they centre on an on-screen presence that genuinely offers something new: new information, analysis, or a substantive development of the narrative.
Not original: simply watching along with the material, reacting with facial expressions, merging multiple clips, or narrating what's already visible on screen, with no meaningful addition.
Also not original: duplicated or minimally edited content taken from another creator's post, such as reuploading a post the page had no hand in making, or adding borders or subtitles or changing the clip's speed.
Meta clarified that anyone not adding substantial creative value will see their content downranked, and their account may be classified as ineligible for recommendation and lose monetisation if they keep posting predominantly unoriginal content. It also noted there's a route to appeal originality decisions.
And three of those "not original" forms were exactly what the page at the top of this article was posting.
Why This Is a Writing Issue, Not a Publishing One
Read the "not original" list again: all of these forms share the absence of one thing, a text that adds a new layer.
The difference between a clip that shows someone else's material and gets downranked, and a clip using the same material that gets recommended, is what you wrote over it.
Which means the originality test has become, in practice, a script test: do you have something to say about this material, or are you merely re-presenting it?
Three Questions Before Using Material That Isn't Yours
What am I adding? If the answer is "a general comment", it's probably not enough. "Historical context" or "an explanation of why" or "a contrasting personal experience" are real additions.
Does the clip still make sense if the quoted 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.
Can I write this on a card before filming? A real addition can be drafted in advance. An improvised reaction can't.
The Effect on Script Structure
Give every clip using external material at least two cards: one for the quoted material, and one for what you're adding.
If you find the second card empty or weak, the clip isn't worth publishing at all, not just because the platform will downrank 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 Broader Direction
Facebook's update isn't an isolated case, it's part of a direction platforms are adopting toward distinguishing original content from recycled.
And the rule that survives policy changes is to build what nobody can copy: your experience, your access to particular people and places, and your angle of view. All of which start at the idea stage, as in: where do content ideas come from? six practical sources.
Source: Meta's official statement "Rewarding Original Creators on Facebook", Meta Newsroom, 13 March 2026.