Publications

The social media landscape is rapidly evolving - with millions turning to social media to generate revenue, inauthentic activity booming, and platforms quietly redefining their relationship with publishers. The EU must take stock of these changes at the risk of regulating yesterday’s problems. 🎬 Watch intervention

Jul 17, 2025

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Policy Brief: New Incentives, Evolving Threats

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Jul 31, 2025

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WHAT TO FIX’s Submission To The DSA First Annual Report On Systemic Risks

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Apr 3, 2025

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WHAT TO FIX’s Submission To The DSA’s Article 40 Delegated Act

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Dec 12, 2024

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How Facebook Monetizes Police and Military Pages

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Oct 6, 2025

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How Facebook Monetizes Politicians and Political Candidates

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Sep 30, 2025

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How Facebook (Continues to) Monetize Sanctioned Entities

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Sep 17, 2025

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How Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. May Have Violated EU Sanctions And Channeled Money To RT, Sputnik And Other EU-Sanctioned Entities Via Facebook’s Revenue Redistribution Programs

/bankrolling-sanctioned-entities

Jun 20, 2025

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Social Media Monetization 2025: An Update On The Social Media Monetization Landscape

/monetization2025

Feb 22, 2025

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Did you know social media platforms redistributed more than $20 billion to over 6 millions accounts through revenue redistribution programs in 2024?
We’re excited to share our updated Social Media Monetization 2025 deck to guide you through the big changes and trends across social media monetization in 2024 and moving into 2025.

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From Content to Payment : The Rise And Implications Of Social Media Ad Revenue Sharing

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Apr 11, 2024

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More than 50 million people worldwide now generate revenue from their social media activity. A quickly growing share of that revenue comes via participation in ad revenue share programs. We estimate that platforms now collectively redistribute more than US$20 billion in ad revenue annually to upwards of five million social media accounts.
This report charts the evolution of social media monetization and the rise of ad revenue share programs. It offers an overview of how these programs work and the challenges they pose.

11 April, 2024

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What Meta Said, and What We’re Saying Back

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Jul 1, 2025

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Crisis Response-ability : What The Myanmar Earthquake Teaches Us About The Inadequacy Of Facebook’s Crisis Response Center

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Apr 9, 2025

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New Initiative: Most Shared Content

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Nov 1, 2024

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DRAPAC 2025: When Social Media Platform Monetize Sanctioned Actors

/drapac2025

Sep 13, 2025

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Aug 26, 2025 → Aug 28, 2025

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Raising Concerns Over Social Media Companies’ Failure to Disclose Risks Related to Their Monetization Services Under the DSA

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Aug 4, 2025

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EUDisinfoLab Webinar: Monetizing Sanctioned Entities

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Jul 8, 2025

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Jul 3, 2025

14:30 – 15:30 CEST

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RightsCon Taipei: Monetization Principles Consultation

Principles-RightsCon

Mar 12, 2025

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WHAT TO FIX at RightsCon25

/rightscon2025

Feb 17, 2025

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Feb 24, 2025 → Feb 27, 2025

Taipei, Taiwan

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Far-Right Influencers And The Platforms That Enable Them

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Nov 14, 2024

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Nov 15, 2024

2pm

Hague Humanity Hub

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#EUDisinfo2024: Can Advertising Cash Stop Funding Misinformation Trash?

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Oct 14, 2024

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Oct 10, 2024

Riga, Latvia

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#EUDisinfo2024: Mission NOT Accomplished: Unintended Fallbacks From Investigations

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Oct 11, 2024

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Oct 10, 2024

Riga, Latvia

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DRAPAC 2024: How Is Social Media Monetization Fueling Disinformation In Asia? And What Should We Do About It?

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Aug 20, 2024

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Aug 19, 2024

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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POINT 2024: How To Pull The Plug On Monetizing Disinformation

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Jun 29, 2024

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Jun 24, 2024

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Global Fact 2024: How Social Media Ad Revenue Sharing Is Subsidizing Disinformation Globally

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Jun 29, 2024

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Jun 28, 2024

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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EUDisinfoLab Webinar: From Content To Payment

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Jun 14, 2024

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Jun 13, 2024

14:30 – 15:30 CEST

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Explainer: Meta Partner-Publisher List

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Oct 6, 2025

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Explainer: Monetization Governance

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Apr 24, 2025

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Explainer: Monetization Risks

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Apr 24, 2025

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Explainer: Social Media Monetization

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Apr 24, 2025

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What Social Media Companies Don’t Want Us To Know About Misinformation

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Nov 22, 2023

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New Analysis Shows Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. May Have Violated EU Sanctions and Channeled Money to RT, Sputnik and Other EU-sanctioned Entities via Facebook Revenue Redistribution Programs

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Jun 20, 2025

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We’re Hiring: Policy Lead (Position filled)

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Jan 12, 2024

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12 January, 2024

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How Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. May Have Violated EU Sanctions And Channeled Money To RT, Sputnik And Other EU-Sanctioned Entities Via Facebook’s Revenue Redistribution Programs

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Jun 20, 2025

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EUDisinfoLab Webinar: From Content To Payment

EU Disinfo Lab webinar - WHAT TO FIX

Our Executive Director, Victoire Rio, discussed our new report with Joe McNamee of EU Disinfo Lab. She stressed that if we can’t trust social media companies to moderate content, we likely shouldn’t be trusting them to handle millions of payments worth billions of US dollars every month.

what to fix, social media, ad revenue sharing, monetization, webinar, eu disinfo lab

POINT 2024: How To Pull The Plug On Monetizing Disinformation

POINT 2024 - WHAT TO FIX

Our Executive Director, Victoire Rio, spoke at POINT Sarajevo about our research on the role of social media ad revenue sharing in financing and subsidizing disinformation.

what to fix, POINT, panel, monetization, ad revenue sharing, disinformation

Global Fact 2024: How Social Media Ad Revenue Sharing Is Subsidizing Disinformation Globally

Global Fact presentation - WHAT TO FIX

Our Executive Director, Victoire Rio, presented our new report From Content to Payment: the Rise and Implications of Ad Revenue Sharing in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzgovina.

what to fix, Conference, Presentation, Social Media, Ad Revenue Sharing, Monetization, Disinformation

#EUDisinfo2024: Mission NOT Accomplished: Unintended Fallbacks From Investigations

#EUDisinfo2024 Panel: Mission NOT accomplished: unintended fallbacks from investigations

Our Executive Director, Victoire Rio, joined a panel on unintended fallbacks from interventions to counter disinformation

what to fix, Event, Conference, panel, Disinfo, EU Disinfo Lab

WHAT TO FIX at RightsCon25

Join us at RIGHTSCON 2025 - WHAT TO FIX

Join us in Taipei, Taiwan for Rightscon, the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age.

what to fix, conference, lightning talk, social media, monetization, ad revenue sharing

From Content to Payment : The Rise And Implications Of Social Media Ad Revenue Sharing

New Report: From Content to Payment - WHAT TO FIX

We launched a new report, charting the rise of ad revenue share programs, how these programs work and the challenges they pose.

what to fix, Social Media, Monetization, Ad Revenue, Baseline, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, SnapChat

We’re Hiring: Policy Lead (Position filled)

We’re Hiring: Policy Lead - WHAT TO FIX

We’re looking for a Policy Lead to join its small and mighty team and support its work to address the root causes of misinformation, disinformation, and online hate.

what to fix, job, hiring

New Initiative: Most Shared Content

We’re launching a new initiative, building on a unique new archive of the 1,000 posts and link posts most shared on Facebook every year between 2010 and 2023, for 90+ languages.

what to fix, project, initiative, data

Explainer: Social Media Monetization

Explainer: social media monetization

Learn about the different kinds of monetization options available to social media users.

Social media monetization, content monetization, monetization programs, monetization services, on platform monetization, off platform monetization, facebook, instagram, meta, youtube, tiktok, snapchat, x

WHAT TO FIX’s Submission To The DSA First Annual Report On Systemic Risks

WHAT TO FIX’s Submission to the European Board on Digital Services’ Annual Report on Systemic Risks

As social platforms continue to rapidly expand their monetization services, we call for the impact of these services on systemic risks to be assessed and for platforms’ monetization terms, policies, and their enforcement to be subject to regulatory oversight.

WHAT TO FIX, submission, systemic risks, monetization

WHAT TO FIX’s Submission To The DSA’s Article 40 Delegated Act

WHAT TO FIX’s submission to the DSA Article 40 Delegated Act

What we’d fix about the DSA’s Article 40 Delegated Act. We asked that the act incorporate explicit language referencing data access around monetization programs in order for researchers to explore how such programs impact systemic risks across the EU. But we also continue to advocate for general transparency from platforms around how their monetization programs actually operate and who is allowed to participate in them.

DSA, What to fix, social media, disinformation, monetization, article 40, delegated act

How Facebook Monetizes Police and Military Pages

WHAT TO FIX’s Meta Monetization Archive reveals how numerous pages affiliated with police and military entities have been —and in some cases continue to be— accessing Facebook's monetization services.

Meta monetization archive, monetization, facebook, meta, police, military, monetization policies

EUDisinfoLab Webinar: Monetizing Sanctioned Entities

EU Disinfo Lab webinar - WHAT TO FIX

what to fix, social media, ad revenue sharing, monetization, webinar, eu disinfo lab

How Facebook Monetizes Politicians and Political Candidates

WHAT TO FIX’s Meta Monetization Archive reveals how numerous pages affiliated with politicians and political candidates have been —and in some cases continue to be— accessing Facebook's monetization services.

Meta monetization archive, Meta, Facebook, monetization, archive, politicians, political candidates

How Facebook (Continues to) Monetize Sanctioned Entities

How Facebook (Continues to) Monetize Sanctioned Entities

WHAT TO FIX’s Meta Monetization Archive reveals how several pages affiliated with entities sanctioned by the US and the EU have been —and in some cases continue to be— accessing Facebook's monetization services.

Meta monetization archive, Meta, Facebook, monetization, archive, sanctioned entities, RT, Sputnik

DRAPAC 2025: When Social Media Platform Monetize Sanctioned Actors

DRAPAC 2025 - WHAT TO FIX

WHAT TO FIX soft launched two powerful new tools to support research on social media monetization: monetization.wtf and the Meta Monetization Archive and cohosted a session with colleagues from Digitally Right Bangladesh and the Myanmar Internet Project on the monetization of sanctioned entities and human rights abusers.

WHAT TO FIX, DRAPAC, monetization, sanctioned entities, events

Raising Concerns Over Social Media Companies’ Failure to Disclose Risks Related to Their Monetization Services Under the DSA

2025 Rights and Risk Forum

WHAT TO FIX raises concerns over social media companies’ lack of focus on monetization-related risks under the DSA.

rights & risk forum, DSA risk assessments, social media, WHAT TO FIX, monetization-related risks

EU Democracy Shield: WHAT TO FIX’s recommendations to the European Parliament

WHAT TO FIX presents recommendations at the European Parliament

“The social media environment is no longer what it was 5 years ago. The EU needs to take stock of key changes or run the risk of regulating yesterday’s problems”

EUDS, EU, Parliament, Intervention, Victoire Rio, WHAT TO FIX, Monetization, Inauthentic Automation, Advertising

Policy Brief: New Incentives, Evolving Threats

Social media platforms operate very differently today than when the DSA and DMA were first introduced. This brief examines three key developments — the rise of social media monetization, the proliferation of inauthentic automation, and the restructuring of platforms' advertising models and publisher relationships — and their implications for information integrity and regulation.

policy brief, monetization, automation, advertising, revenue redistribution

What Meta Said, and What We’re Saying Back

Bankrolling sanctioned entities: What Meta Said, and What We’re Saying Back

Our report showed Meta may be channeling money to EU-sanctioned entities.
Meta’s response raises more questions than answers.

Meta, Sanctions, Revenue Redistribution, RT, Sputnik, Statement, Revenue Accrual, EU

How Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. May Have Violated EU Sanctions And Channeled Money To RT, Sputnik And Other EU-Sanctioned Entities Via Facebook’s Revenue Redistribution Programs

Facebook pages affiliated with RT, Sputnik and other EU-sanctioned entities were among Meta’s active partner-publishers for months after being subject to EU sanctions. Some of these partnerships remain active as of June 2025.

Meta, Facebook, EU, Sanctions, RT, Sputnik, broadcasting sanctions, financial sanctions, Revenue redistribution programs, instant articles, ads on reels, in-stream ads.

New Analysis Shows Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. May Have Violated EU Sanctions and Channeled Money to RT, Sputnik and Other EU-sanctioned Entities via Facebook Revenue Redistribution Programs

PRESS RELEASE - New Analysis Shows How Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. May Have Channeled Money to RT, Sputnik and Other EU-Sanctioned Entities via Facebook’s Revenue Redistribution Programs

Meta, Facebook, EU, Sanctions, RT, Sputnik, broadcasting sanctions, financial sanctions, Revenue redistribution programs, instant articles, ads on reels, in-stream ads, monetization.

How Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. May Have Violated EU Sanctions And Channeled Money To RT, Sputnik And Other EU-Sanctioned Entities Via Facebook’s Revenue Redistribution Programs

Meta, Facebook, EU, Sanctions, RT, Sputnik, broadcasting sanctions, financial sanctions, Revenue redistribution programs, instant articles, ads on reels, in-stream ads.

Explainer: Meta Partner-Publisher List

Explainer: Meta’s Partner-Publisher List

Find out more about Meta’s partner-publisher lists and how to use them in your investigations.

partner publisher list, meta, facebook, instagram, content monetization, monetization programs, monetization services

Explainer: Monetization Risks

Explainer: monetization risks

Discover how monetization services contribute to societal harms, and fuel brand safety and media and creator viability concerns

social media monetization, monetization governance, monetization risk, societal harms, brand safety, media viability, creator economy

Explainer: Monetization Governance

Explainer: monetization governance

Find out how platforms moderate who and what gets paid through their services.

social media monetization, monetization systems, monetization policies, monetization enforcement, monetization governance

Crisis Response-ability : What The Myanmar Earthquake Teaches Us About The Inadequacy Of Facebook’s Crisis Response Center

The Facebook Crisis Response Center, launched in the wake of the Myanmar earthquake, highlights Meta’s failure to respond to crises

Facebook, Myanmar, Earthquake, Crisis Protocol

RightsCon Taipei: Monetization Principles Consultation

WHAT TO FIX launches version 0 of the Monetization Principles at RightsCon in Taipei

On 24 February 2025 at the RightsCon event in Taipei, WHAT TO FIX held its first expert consultation around the Social Media Monetization Principles

monetization, monetization principles, ad revenue redistribution, revenue sharing, social media, rightscon

Social Media Monetization 2025: An Update On The Social Media Monetization Landscape

Social Media Monetization 2025

Our updated Social Media Monetization 2025 deck guides you through the big changes and trends across social media monetization in 2024 and moving into 2025.

Monetization, Social media, tech accountability

Far-Right Influencers And The Platforms That Enable Them

Join us for an event in The Hague - WHAT TO FIX

Join WHAT TO FIX and The London Story in The Hague for a report launch and expert panel

what to fix, event, the london story

What Social Media Companies Don’t Want Us To Know About Misinformation

what social media companies don’t want us to know about misinformation

WHAT TO FIX, misinformation, social media

#EUDisinfo2024: Can Advertising Cash Stop Funding Misinformation Trash?

#EUDisinfo2024 Panel: Can advertising cash stop funding misinformation trash?

Our Executive Director, Victoire Rio, joined Claire Atkin, Domen Savič and Claire Pershan to discuss how and why digital advertising is contributing to the funding of disinformation.

what to fix, Event, Conference, panel, Disinfo, EU Disinfo Lab

DRAPAC 2024: How Is Social Media Monetization Fueling Disinformation In Asia? And What Should We Do About It?

DRAPAC presentation - WHAT TO FIX

Together with colleagues from Digitally Right in Bangladesh, we hosted a workshop on how to regulate social media ad revenue sharing.

what to fix, Conference, Presentation, Social Media, Ad Revenue Sharing, Monetization, Disinformation