Meta's Facebook link limits are catching government and nonprofit pages despite promise of exemption

Meta is experimenting with charging Facebook pages to share links, and the test is reaching government and nonprofit accounts that the company has said it is not supposed to affect, according to people who spoke with Engadget.

Daniel Starks, communications manager for Greenville, Texas, a city of about 35,000, oversees nearly a dozen city Facebook pages. The page for the city library recently received a notice that it could add links to only two posts per month and had used both. Posting more would require a Meta One subscription costing $50 or more monthly. The library's page identifies it as a government building and had previously been verified by Meta.

Starks said more than half of the city's communication involves pointing residents to information on its website. Concerned that other city pages would be restricted next, he told staff to stop putting links in posts and instead place URLs in comments, and he made a graphic to tell followers about the change. "When you have an official governmental entity that is trying to get out in some instances very, very, important information, and we're being paywalled by Facebook all because we're trying to post a link, that's a problem," he said.

Nonprofits report similar problems. Bethany English, co-president of the East Side Pawject, a small Indianapolis group that organizes pet food pantries, found last week that she could not add her website link to a post about an event because the two monthly links were used up. An "expert" plan allowing 20 links a month would cost her $150. The page has just under 1,000 followers and is used to help people find pantries, donate and volunteer. English is considering more dedicated Facebook events, or asking board members to add links from personal profiles, which are exempt from the restrictions.

Meta has tested paid linking for nearly a year, first as part of Meta Verified and now as a featured benefit of its AI-focused Meta One plans. The $14.99 monthly tier includes no extra Facebook link sharing, though subscribers can add a dedicated link page to their Instagram bio. The $49.99 tier allows eight Facebook links a month, the $149.99 tier allows 20, and only the $499.99 tier offers unlimited links.

Jeff Bannister, marketing manager at SparkPoint, a North Carolina nonprofit focused on public health and social connection in Transylvania County, called $50 for eight links "crazy" and said the return on investment "seems almost negative." He is exploring ways for local nonprofits to share information with one another to depend less on Facebook, though he noted that much of the county remains on the platform.

The people Engadget interviewed were generally confused by the rules. Some could still post links in comments while others could not, and Meta's plan descriptions and help center pages do not say the link restriction is a test. Meta has described Meta One as unlocking "more specialized capabilities" and AI features, yet adding a URL to a post is among Facebook's oldest functions and requires no AI tokens. For some, tying it to the subscriptions feels like a cash grab.

David Diskin, president of California Freethought Day, which holds an annual civic engagement event in Sacramento, was told of the limit earlier this month, days before the event. He was quoted $40 monthly for eight links, $119 for 20, or $399 for unlimited. The restriction was lifted this week without explanation. "It wasn't until after our big fundraiser had passed that they fixed the problem," he said.

A Meta spokesperson did not explain why nonprofits are seeing the limits, saying the company has been "testing whether sharing links on Facebook should be part of the Meta One subscription" and will keep evolving the experience based on feedback. In an update on October 23, 2026, the spokesperson said pages must list "nonprofit" in the category section of their Facebook page for Meta's systems to recognize them as such. It remains unclear why organizations that state their status elsewhere, or that use Meta's fundraising tools, are not identified.