Meta’s new tool helps reels creators protect their IP

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Meta is rolling out a new digital bouncer for Facebook creators, the kind that checks IDs, kicks out copycats, and politely asks, “Sir, is that reel actually yours?” 

On Monday, the company unveiled Facebook content protection, a mobile-only tool designed to sniff out when someone swipes a creator’s original Facebook reel and reposts it without permission. 

Think of it as a neighborhood watch, but for vertical videos and overworked influencers.

Here’s how it works: if Meta spots your reel moonlighting on someone else’s page, you’ll get a heads-up. 

From there, you can do one of three things: block the video across Facebook and Instagram, track how it’s performing in the wild, or simply add attribution so everyone knows who actually made it (because credit matters and creators need those bragging rights). 

You can even release your claim entirely if you’re feeling generous.

There’s a small catch: to activate this protection, creators need to post their reels on Facebook, even if they originally filmed them for Instagram. 

Cross-posting counts, so Meta is basically nudging creators to bring more of their work over to Facebook’s side of town.

The feature automatically appears for creators in the Facebook Content Monetization program who meet Meta’s “enhanced integrity and originality” standards, which is corporate-speak for “don’t be shady and don’t repost stuff you didn’t make.” 

It’s also expanding to users of Meta’s existing Rights Manager tool.

Meta frames this whole update as part of its crusade to help original creators rise above the sea of copycats. 

The company says it recently zapped around 10 million fake or impersonating profiles and punished another half-million accounts caught pumping out spammy engagement. 

So yes, the cleanup continues.

Creators can check eligibility through notifications, the Professional Dashboard, or by applying directly. 

Once enabled, the tool uses Meta’s same matching tech from Rights Manager and even shows how closely each detected reel matches the original, percentages, stats, views, follower counts, and the whole dossier.

Meta also gives creators fine-grained control, like allow lists for approved re-sharers and the ability to add “Original” labels that link back to their profile.

For now, the tool is mobile-only, but Meta says desktop support is in the works, because even content cops need a workstation eventually.