In early August, Facebook announced that users would be required to participate in Page publishing authorization, beginning with the site’s heftiest contributors.
Pages with large American audiences will now be required to complete an authorization process in order to continue posting. The goal? To discourage
fake or compromised accounts from generating information on the world’s largest social media site.

New Policies for Authorization on Facebook Pages

If you have a broad North American following on your Pages site, chances are you’ll be asked to complete an authorization process, which will involve enabling
two-factor authentication before posting anything new. If you’re one of the chosen accounts, you’ll see a notice at the top of your newsfeed explaining
that you won’t be able to post until completing the authentication process. You’ll also be asked to identify yourself and indicate which country you’re
posting from – and that information will be added to a site section called “People Who Manage This Page.” To verify page managers’ locations, Facebook
will check the location on the users’ phones.

Why Authentication – and Why Now?

Facebook’s recent decision to require better transparency on its Pages feature probably has a lot to do with the company’s controversial role in the 2016
United States election. In April of this year, Facebook demanded that all politically oriented advertisers share their identities and locations. Today,
with a spotlight on Page managers, Facebook is attempting to mitigate the rampant disinformation distributed by fake accounts and Pages. By requiring
all Page owners to share their locations and identities, Facebook hopes to mitigate any further interference by organizations headquartered abroad.

The Future of Pages

Users can expect to see even more changes to Pages policies, including updates to the Info and Ads sections. Now, everyday users will be able to view the
history of any given Page, tracking when one page merges with another, for example. Instagram, Facebook’s sister site, is also planning to require
more information from profiles with huge followings. According to Facebook representatives, the company’s goal is to “prevent organizations and individuals
from creating accounts that mislead people.” The bottom line? Facebook aficionados should expect to see sustained efforts designed to boost authenticity
and transparency of Facebook Pages.