Has Facebook been monetised in Liberia?

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Claim: George S. M. Tulay II claimed Liberia is eligible for Facebook monetisation. According to him, the platforms eligible for monetisation are TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

Verdict: There is no evidence! Research shows that Liberia’s social media content hasn’t been monetised. LTA Commissioner Patrick Honnah told DUBAWA that negotiations are being made with Meta, but Meta hasn’t indicated anything about monetising content in Liberia.

Full Text

Facebook monetisation had been a significant request in Liberia. Content Creators continue to seek the government’s intervention in pushing for monetisation of social media platforms in Liberia. The matter was even placed before the Plenary of the Liberian Senate during the confirmation hearing of the Board of Commissioners of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority in July of this year. The Commissioners pledged to negotiate with Meta for a successful monetisation of major social media platforms in the country for the benefit of content creators and citizens.

However, a social media user, George S M Tulay II, took to Facebook recently, claiming Liberia has been monetised. In his post, he said content creators on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube can now benefit from their work.

The post said, “Congratulations to Liberia. You can now monetise your Facebook account and page in Liberia.”

Screenshot of the post.

At the time of filing this report, the post had gained 158 reactions, 127 comments, and 72 shares. Commenters disproved the claim, while some shared similar beliefs with the claimant. Another user also posted the claim here. The matter went viral on Facebook, with mixed views, claims, and counterclaims. The trend led DUBAWA to initiate a fact-check.

Verification

In verifying this, DUBAWA contacted the Commissioner of Liberia Telecommunications Authority, Patrick Honnah, to ascertain the outcome of the Authority’s request to Meta. In response, Commissioner Honnah said his team has been in negotiation with Meta, but he has not received any indication of the platform being monetised in Liberia.

Screenshot of the conversation.

We also checked Meta and Mark Zuckerberg’s official accounts to see if there had been any announcement about Facebook monetisation in Liberia, but we found none.

A Google search also indicated that Liberia is not among the African Countries monetised by Meta.

Screenshot of eligible countries.

Moreover, the claimant, in providing evidence to his claim, also took to facebook to outline procedures on how people can get monetised in Liberia. George, in his post, stated that for a content creator in Liberia to benefit monetisation, the person has to create an account with a Payoneer (a United States business account and card services provider). That means the details associated with the account carry a US identity.

This information indicates that Facebook is not monetised in Liberia, but a citizen in Liberia can use a USA business account to monetise his/her Facebook page.