In recent months, numerous Pakistani content creators have faced unexpected demonetization of their Facebook pages, despite adhering to the platform’s guidelines and maintaining a significant audience. This unexpected policy shift has left creators frustrated and uncertain about their future earnings.
Facebook has implemented stringent financial requirements for monetisation, requiring creators to establish connections between their bank accounts and authorised tax information from approved countries. Pakistan is not included in the list of countries that have access to a variety of monetisation features, such as in-stream advertisements.
In the past 48 hours, a significant number of video creators have experienced the disappearance of their payment features. This removal affects both video monetisation aspects, such as in-stream ads and reel ads, as well as photo post earnings. Additionally, story monetisation is also impacted.
Facebook has refused to take responsibility for not informing creators about these policy changes. Many content creators who rely on Facebook for their livelihood have been left anxious and uncertain due to the sudden disruptions in their earnings.
Facebook altered its policy regarding users’ financial eligibility, which triggered a new cycle of demonetisation. A significant modification prohibits the use of Pakistani bank accounts and tax documentation for monetisation purposes. Pages are required to associate their account financial data with one of the eligible nations:
Facebook’s new financial requirements have the potential to immediately deactivate creators’ monetisation privileges, despite their continued adherence to content guidelines. Financial policies that were abruptly altered resulted in the loss of monetisation rights for long-term creators, which causes them to experience significant distress.
Several factors have been identified as common reasons for the removal of monetization privileges:
Ineligible Bank Accounts: Using bank accounts that are not registered in an eligible country.
Mismatched Tax Information: Discrepancies between tax information and payout accounts.
Inaccurate Financial Data: Providing incorrect or third-party financial information.
Unverifiable Payout Details: Inconsistencies or unverifiable payout information.
These issues can lead to immediate demonetization, even if creators produce original content and comply with community guidelines.
Following steps are in place to enable affected creators to re-establish their ability to monetise their activities in accordance with the following guidelines:
To further safeguard against demonetization, creators should:
Facebook’s ‘Stars’ program allows followers to financially support authors via a new platform feature. Pakistani creators can take use of this option, which serves as an additional income possibility through this scheme.
By diligently aligning with Facebook’s updated policies and exploring available monetization tools, Pakistani content creators can continue to leverage the platform effectively and sustain their revenue streams.