A new ABC NEWS Verify investigation reveals that Facebook's parent company Meta is paying controversial creators to produce content that violates its own policies. Hugo Lennon, a far-right agitator moved on by Victoria Police for shouting racist abuse at Indian PM Narendra Modi, has been receiving revenue through Meta's 'Content Monetization' program since September 2025. The Noticer, a far-right Australian news site promoting white supremacist ideologies, has been making money through the same program since November 2025.

Other accounts include anti-immigration group March for Australia and anti-vaccine group Reignite Democracy Australia. Meta acknowledged it was 'not in a position to police offensiveness' and said it was 'important to distinguish between speech that is offensive and content that could potentially lead to offline violence.' Meta also disclosed it had paused payments to some accounts in early 2025. Dr. Victoire Rio, executive director at What To Fix, said the programme is a 'deliberate strategy' and that Meta's financial model 'rewards content creators who get engagement' by producing rage bait. Meta said it is 'important to distinguish between speech that is offensive and content that could potentially lead to offline violence.'.