Journalist Ambuj Kumar says Meta demonetized second Facebook page over ‘unoriginal content’

Ambuj Kumar, who manages the news pages “Lokhit India” and “Ambuj Kumar – Lokhit India,” reports that Facebook has demonetised both pages and limited the reach of the latter.

What Kumar alleges

• Second page hit: His page “Ambuj Kumar – Lokhit India,” which he says has over 1.2 million followers, has been demonetised under Facebook’s “Unoriginal Content” guidelines.
• Reach restricted: He says its reach has been limited and recommendations to new audiences have been suspended.
• First page, unresolved: In 2024, he says Facebook demonetised “Lokhit India,” which has over 950,000 followers. He says the issue was never resolved.
• Appeal filed: He says he submitted an appeal on October 27.

What Kumar is asking Meta to do

1. Arrange a fair human review of the decision.
2. Identify the specific videos alleged to violate the guidelines.
3. Provide a way for him to submit evidence.
4. Explain the basis for labelling his journalism “unoriginal.”
5. If the decisions were errors, restore monetisation and recommendation eligibility on both pages.

Kumar identifies himself as an independent journalist who produces and presents his own programmes. He says he holds original raw footage and production records to verify his authorship. For material sourced from PTI, he says he has subscription and licensing documents available for inspection. However, he has not published this evidence in his post, so his claims cannot be independently verified.

What Meta’s unoriginal content rules say

In July 2025, Meta announced stricter measures against unoriginal content. Accounts that repeatedly post content without permission or meaningful edits will face reduced distribution and restricted monetisation. Meta stated that repeat offenders would lose monetisation for a period and experience reduced distribution across all their posts, not just those containing the offending content. This is consistent with Kumar’s account of lost income and limited reach.

Meta distinguishes between reposting and transformative use. It treats commentary and reaction formats differently from reposts with minimal editing. Meta recommends that creators primarily post original footage and add substantive editing, narration or commentary when using third-party material. Licensed agency footage presented with an outlet’s own framing generally falls within permitted use, although whether Kumar’s videos meet this standard remains in dispute.

Meta says it provides creators with tools to identify issues. The dashboard highlights reasons for drops in engagement or monetisation, including flags for unoriginal content. Another tool allows page owners to check whether they are at risk of penalties. Kumar’s request for Meta to identify the specific videos in question seeks the level of detail these tools are intended to provide.

What is not established

• Timing: Kumar says his first page was demonetised in 2024. Meta announced its crackdown on unoriginal content in July 2025, so the two actions do not appear to have the same policy basis. His post does not specify the reason Meta gave for the 2024 decision.
• Which content was flagged: Neither Meta nor Kumar has identified the videos behind the decision.
• Detection errors: The rules rely on automated detection, and commentators have raised concerns about accounts being wrongly flagged. One outlet noted that Meta would need to reduce false positives for the policy to work. Whether that has happened in this case remains unknown.
• Whether a human has reviewed the appeal: Kumar’s post provides no information on this.

Also read:

• NoCap asks Kerala High Court to make authorities produce the order behind its Facebook block
• Chandigarh court suspends three Facebook pages over AI-generated political videos

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