Meta announced sweeping updates to fight spam and fake engagement on Facebook, just hours before the platform suffered a global outage affecting thousands of users.

　Starting this week, pages and accounts posting misleading captions, excessive hashtags, or AI-generated clickbait will lose monetization privileges. The company also upgraded its Rights Manager tool to help creators protect original content from unauthorized reuse. “Spam drowns out real voices,” Meta stated, aiming to prioritize authentic posts over algorithm-gaming clutter.

　Meanwhile, Facebook users worldwide faced login issues and app crashes Thursday, with over 2,900 reports flooding Downdetector. Nearly 80% cited website failures, while others struggled with app access. Social media erupted with memes, including one user joking, “Went to delete my Facebook—of course it’s down. #facebookdown”.

　The outage, though brief, highlighted reliance on Meta’s platforms. As for the spam crackdown, musicians and creators cheered the shift: “Less noise means our work finally gets seen,” said one indie artist.

　Meta’s moves mark its latest attempt to revive Facebook’s "OG vibe"—real content over spam. Whether Instagram follows suit remains unclear.