Meta launches Facebook content protection to stop Reel reuse

Creators on all social media platforms have a lot to worry about, but the theft or reuse of content must be near the top of the list. To help combat this, Meta has launched Facebook content protection to help prevent Reels from being stolen.

The automated tool can warn Facebook creators when their Reels are detected being reused on either Facebook or Instagram. If reuse is detected, creators have a number of options available to them, including blocking anything being used without consent.

One of the options is an interesting one. Clearly keen to avoid providing a one-size-fits-all tool, Facebook is giving creators the ability to grant permission for other users, other accounts, other pages, to reuse content legitimately.

To take advantage of the new tool, creators need to enroll in content protection. Meta says:

Once you enroll in content protection, every original reel that you post to Facebook will get automatically protected. You can also protect eligible reels you posted prior to enrolling by manually selecting ones you wish to protect at any time.

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. Content protection uses the same matching technology as Meta's Rights Manager to detect potential matches to your reels, but it is mobile-first and designed specifically with creators in mind.

When we detect a match, you'll get notified and can review details about the matching content, such as its views, the follower count of the account, and more. You can then decide to take action, all within the Facebook app.

It is important to point out that not everyone is automatically entitled to use the tool. Meta says that “automatic access to content protection is available for creators in our Facebook Content Monetization program who meet enhanced integrity and originality standards”. It adds:

Access to content protection in the Facebook mobile app is also rolling out to creators who use Rights Manager.

If you're eligible, you'll see notifications in Feed, Professional dashboard, and profile. You can also check for the content protection tool by navigating to Professional dashboard → Content → Content protection.

Think you need access but haven't heard from us yet? You can apply here.

There are three possible courses of actions should “protection issues” be detected:

• Track: Keep the matching reel visible to other users, while staying informed about its performance; this is your default setting. You can always revisit and take a different action at any time. You can also add attribution links to select eligible tracked matches on Facebook, which puts an “original by” label on the reel that links back to your Page or Profile.
• Block: Make the matching reel not visible on Facebook or Instagram. While this will reduce the reel’s distribution on our platforms, it won't directly result in any disciplinary action against the other account.
• Release: Release your claim, and allow the reel to stay visible on our platforms. This will remove this matching post from your match dashboard entirely, meaning you no longer can see its performance.

There is more information available in Facebook’s announcement about the detection tool here.