Meta has introduced a new Content Protection feature on Facebook that enables creators to monitor and manage unauthorized reuse of their Reels across Facebook and Instagram. The tool builds on Meta’s broader strategy to support original content creation and enhance intellectual property protection in an expanding global creator economy.
The new feature applies when creators publish their Reels on Facebook first. Once enabled, Facebook automatically reviews future uploads against identical or partially matching versions that appear on both Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook explained it as:
Once you enroll in content protection, every original reel that you post to Facebook will get automatically protected. Behind the scenes, content protection continuously scans Facebook and Instagram for matches to your protected Facebook reels, whether they’re full or partial matches to your original work.
According to Meta’s documentation, the tool provides three primary enforcement options when a match is detected:
Creators may allow the matched post to remain live while monitoring its performance. A source attribution tag can also be added, directing viewers to the original creator’s profile.
This option hides the matched content from appearing on Facebook or Instagram feeds. Meta notes that blocking does not impose penalties on the uploader, but removes the repost from visibility.
A creator can withdraw a match claim, allowing the reused content to remain publicly available without attribution or restrictions. Creators can also manually select older Reels to include under Content Protection within their Professional Dashboard.
Early access is reserved for creators who meet Meta’s monetization and originality standards. The system uses Meta’s Rights Manager technology, which already supports music partners and publishers in identifying unauthorized usage across Meta’s platforms.
The launch comes at a time when the global creator economy, valued at approximately $250 billion in 2025, is experiencing significant growth. Analysts expect the industry to expand to nearly $480 billion by 2027. Despite this growth, intellectual property misuse remains a major concern for creators, especially as short-form video formats dominate engagement metrics.
Industry studies estimate that more than 200 million individuals worldwide participate in the creator economy, yet only a small percentage generate sustainable income. Loss of ownership, impersonation, and unauthorized reposting continue to be among the most frequently cited challenges.
Meta reported that in the first half of 2025 alone, it removed millions of impersonation attempts and spam accounts linked to unoriginal or repurposed content. Similar measures have been adopted by other platforms, including YouTube Shorts and TikTok, but large-scale enforcement remains uneven.
Meta’s introduction of Content Protection aligns with its ongoing focus on improving original content discovery. Over the past year, Meta has adjusted its recommendation systems to reduce distribution for unoriginal or duplicated content, particularly in Reels.
The new tool also supports Meta’s broader shift toward professionalizing the creator experience by:
Several creator advocacy groups have noted that improved rights management tools are essential for sustaining long-term content production across social platforms.
While Content Protection is an important expansion of Meta’s creator tools, the feature has several limitations:
Meta has indicated that the tool will expand over time as feedback is collected and detection capabilities advance.