Meta is paying big money to lure TikTok creators to its platforms

Summary

Within the context of TikTok’s recent and short-lived US ban, competing social media giant Meta appears to be looking for ways to entice content creators to switch to its platforms.
Meta has announced a new ‘breakthrough’ bonus program, in which content creators can earn up to $5,000.
This new program is geared towards creators who are new to Facebook or Instagram, but who have an existing presence on competing platforms.

So far, 2025 has proven to be a rather dynamic year with regard to the social media scene. In a whiplash-inducing turn of events, short-form video juggernaut TikTok was briefly banned within the US market, only to have its fortunes reversed mere hours later.

Amidst these tumultuous developments, competing social media giant Meta appears to have its eyes set on expansion. The company has launched a new ‘breakthrough bonus program’, which is geared towards content creators migrating onto Meta-owned services.

“Accepted creators will immediately be able to earn money across reels, longer videos, photos and text posts through Facebook’s invite-only Content Monetization program — plus earn up to $5,000 in extra Breakthrough bonuses to help you get off the ground during the first 90 days. Creators will also get access to a free trial of Meta Verified as part of this program,” says Meta in a blog post.

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According to Meta, in order to be eligible for this new content creator bonus program, you must clear the following criteria:

Be based in the US
Be at least 18 years old
Have an existing presence on a non-Meta social media app (such as TikTok, X, Snapchat, etc.)
Have or have signed up for both an Instagram professional account and a Facebook Page.
Not be an active participant of any other Facebook monetization program.

There are a number of other stipulations outlined in this bonus program agreement, such as the need to make all Reels public, the need to post a minimum of 20 Reels on Facebook and 10 reels on Instagram per month, and the requirement to adhere to Meta’s Content Monetization Policies.

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So far, 2025 has been quite dynamic for the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp

Meta’s latest creator bonus program is noteworthy, but it’s far from the first time the company has tried to entice users to migrate over to its first-party platforms. Rather, it’s Meta’s other recent decisions that have caused more of a stir within the industry.

Namely, Meta has recently overhauled its platform-wide approach to censorship and content moderation, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg explains in a video published to Facebook. The company’s home-grown fact-checker system has been swiftly replaced by a Community Notes feature reminiscent of the one found on X, and political content has been re-prioritized from an algorithmic perspective.

Beyond these sweeping content policy changes, Meta has also launched an all-new mobile video editing app, Edits, which serves as a competitor to TikTok’s CapCut service.

It’s unclear whether these major developments signal a sense of emboldment over at Meta, or whether they’re a sign of concern and instability. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see how things progress within the broader social networking scene, particularly as it relates to TikTok’s uncertain presence in the US market.