Facebook’s New Trap: Creators Must Pay to Share Links Freely

Facebook is testing new restrictions that limit how many links non-subscribers can share, putting creators in a tough spot. The new test caps link sharing to just two organic posts per month for non-subscribers who use professional mode on Facebook, including creators and business pages.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, confirmed the test after social media consultant Matt Navarra shared screenshots of the notification. Users began receiving alerts about these changes starting December 16. According to a Meta spokesperson, this limited test aims to evaluate whether unlimited link sharing provides enough value as a subscriber benefit.

After Navarra posted notification screenshots, Meta confirmed the test, which evaluates unlimited link sharing as a potential subscriber-exclusive feature.

For creators who want to share more than two links monthly, they’ll need to purchase a Meta Verified subscription, which costs at least $14.99 per month. The subscription also includes premium customer service access, which was already a paid feature. The Meta Verified subscription provides various link-sharing limits based on the subscription tier.

This change could considerably impact businesses and creators who rely on Facebook to drive traffic to external websites. Affiliate marketers, who depend on link sharing for revenue, may need to rethink their strategies. This restriction follows a broader industry trend of platforms trying to keep users engaged within their own ecosystems rather than directing them elsewhere. Many creators now face a difficult choice: pay for the subscription, limit their link usage, or move to other platforms.

Meta’s decision appears to be supported by their own transparency data. According to their Q3 2025 report, 98.1% of US Facebook views don’t include external links, with only 1.9% of views containing links typically coming from Pages that users follow. This data suggests that Meta views link sharing as a premium feature rather than a standard one.

Publishers aren’t currently affected by these restrictions, but creators in the test group must now carefully plan their limited link-sharing opportunities. The change represents a considerable shift from Facebook’s previous approach, where link sharing was freely available to all users.

The test has sparked frustration among creators, especially coming after other features like customer service were moved behind paywalls. For businesses built on Facebook’s free distribution model, this represents a fundamental change to how they can operate on the platform.