Greenville, Texas library blocked from posting links on Facebook until it pays

The Greenville, Texas city library Facebook page ran out of its two free links for the month and now requires a $50 monthly subscription to share any more.

Daniel Starks, the communications manager for the city of about 35,000 residents, oversees nearly a dozen municipal pages. The library page, which Meta previously verified as a government building, received a notice that its free monthly link allowance was exhausted. Adding more links requires a Meta One subscription.

Starks said that more than half of the city’s digital communication involves directing residents to information on its website. To avoid paying the fee, he instructed staff to stop placing links directly in posts. Instead, staff now post URLs in the comment section. He also created a graphic explaining the change to followers.

“When you have an official governmental entity that is trying to get out in some instances very, very, important information, and we’re being paywalled by Facebook all because we’re trying to post a link, that’s a problem,” Starks said.

Nonprofits report similar issues. Bethany English, co-president of the East Side Pawject in Indianapolis, found she could not add a website link to a post about a pet food pantry event last week. The group’s page, which has just under 1,000 followers, had used its two free monthly links. An “expert” plan allowing 20 links costs $150.

English is considering using dedicated Facebook events or asking board members to add links from their personal profiles, which are exempt from the restrictions. Jeff Bannister, marketing manager at the North Carolina nonprofit SparkPoint, called the $50 price for eight links “crazy.” He noted that the return on investment seems almost negative and is exploring ways for local groups to share information outside of Facebook.

Meta has tested paid linking for nearly a year. The $49.99 Meta One tier allows eight Facebook links per month, while the $149.99 tier allows 20. Only the top $499.99 tier offers unlimited links. The lowest tier, at $14.99, does not include extra Facebook link sharing.

David Diskin, president of California Freethought Day, was told of the limit earlier this month, days before an annual event in Sacramento. He was quoted $40 for eight links, $119 for 20, or $399 for unlimited. The restriction was lifted this week without explanation. “It wasn’t until after our big fundraiser had passed that they fixed the problem,” Diskin said.

A Meta spokesperson said the company is testing whether sharing links should be part of the Meta One subscription. In an update on October 23, the spokesperson stated that pages must list “nonprofit” in the category section of their Facebook page for Meta’s systems to recognize them as such. It remains unclear why organizations that state their status elsewhere or use Meta’s fundraising tools are not automatically identified.

Some users reported confusion about the rules. Some pages could still post links in comments while others could not. Meta’s plan descriptions and help center pages do not state that the link restriction is a test.