Full Breakdown
Meta Pays Extremist Creators via Facebook Monetization Program
8/9/2026, 8:53:36 PM
Core Event
An investigation by ABC NEWS Verify found that Meta’s invitation-only “Content Monetisation” programme on Facebook has been paying Australian far-right figures whose posts violate the platform’s own hate-speech policies. Hugo Lennon, a white nationalist with neo-Nazi links who shouted racist abuse at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a Melbourne hotel, has received payments since September 2025. The far-right news site The Noticer began earning money through the same programme in November 2025, and the anti-immigration group March for Australia registered for the programme in December 2025.
Background & Context
Meta publicly discloses data on “partner-publishers” each year; the non-profit What To Fix aggregates these disclosures into a searchable archive that ABC used for its investigation. While Meta states that it does not police “offensiveness,” it says it applies penalties, including disabling monetisation, when pages breach Community Standards.
Data & Statistics
- In 2025, Facebook distributed nearly $3 billion to an estimated 16 million monetised accounts.
- Hugo Lennon, The Noticer, March for Australia, and anti-vaccine activist Monica Smit are among the identified recipients.
- The Noticer experienced a brief earnings pause from January 11 to February 15 for unknown reasons.
Official Statements & Responses
The company also emphasized the distinction between “offensive speech” and content that could lead to offline violence.
Verbatim Quotes
- “If we consider that Meta is in a direct commercial relationship with its publishers, insofar that they're paying them royalties and that they have a monetisation agreement with them, then you could argue that they are liable for the content that gets produced by their business partner in some ways.” — Ms Rio, to fix executive
- “Their financial model is to reward content creators who get engagement, and as we know, the best way of getting engagement is to produce rage bait, extremist material, aggravating material: anything that will get people upset and arguing is the best way to get engagement," Dr Ross said.” — Dr Ross, right-wing extremism researcher
Why It Matters / Impact
The payments illustrate how Meta’s monetisation incentives can amplify extremist narratives that breach its own policies, raising questions about the company’s responsibility for the content it financially supports. The lack of transparency about individual earnings hampers public scrutiny and may embolden other platforms to adopt similar opaque practices.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Exact revenue figures for each extremist creator are not disclosed by Meta, leaving the scale of financial support unclear. The investigation could not confirm why The Noticer’s earnings stopped between January 11 and February 15, highlighting gaps in Meta’s enforcement transparency.
