One user with Meta Verified was told that a “bug” affected “millions” of Facebook pages. If so, Meta has failed to inform businesses about the issue.

This past week, wine, beer, and other alcohol associated businesses received notification that their pages would no longer be recommended by Facebook’s algorithms. The notification did not provide users with any explanation why, except saying that the page had violated “Community Standards” and was “suspended” from being recommended. There was no ability to contest the decision.

One user with Meta Verified, which comes with live support, told Northwest Wine Report that a support agent said that it was a “bug.” They were also told that “millions” of pages were impacted. If so, Meta has not yet informed businesses of an issue that it is aware of and that many have spent a substantial amount of time and money trying to resolve.

Around the same date, millions of Instagram users received password reset emails. This was a standard phishing-style email that appears to have been related to a 2024 Instagram API leak.

On the face of it, these two things appear completely unrelated. However, the timing coincided in a way that raises questions about what exactly is going on at Meta.

Regarding the API leak, Meta denied that there was a data breach at Instagram. “We fixed an issue that let an external party request password reset emails for some people. There was no breach of our systems and your Instagram accounts are secure,” Instagram said on January 10^th.

Meanwhile the same week, the U.S. government came out with revised alcohol consumption guidelines. This is likely a coincidence. Surely also unrelated, Meta had a change in its leadership. Dina Powell McCormick was named president January 12^th.

Businesses that have reported that their Facebook pages are no longer being recommended include the following: wineries, breweries, distilleries, meaderies, and related media and event pages; wine educational programs; wine software companies; restaurants; bars; and wine and liquor stores across the U.S. and around the world. It is unclear how many of these businesses have been impacted, but it is expected to be in the thousands to tens of thousands to potentially, as the Meta Verified agent indicated, millions.

Other businesses have also been impacted. Reddit users who received the same notification operate pages about military collectibles, sword making, cannabis-related companies, vaping, a candy company, a bladesmith, a casino charter company, outdoor sports, a non-profit sportsmen’s association, a charity page for animal shelters, a hunting-related business, a martial arts page, an archery page, a gaming page, a fireworks company, a “last man standing” competition, a photographer, a DJ, a painter/sculptor, and a coffee and tea company.

Some of these businesses, of course, sit in regulated spaces. Many others do not.

Meanwhile, several wine-related businesses reported receiving notifications within Facebook around the same time, or shortly before, that their pages would now be available to people under 18. It said that this was based on a review that the page owners requested – though they had not. A few people also reported that they received notification that Facebook would resume recommending their pages.

There have been no apparent recent changes regarding alcohol-related businesses under Facebook’s “Restricted Goods and Services” page. There have also not been any changes on the company’s Alcohol page under its advertising standards.

However, as noted here, Facebook controls page recommendation eligibility under its Terms of Service. It can adjust it at any time. (See Facebook’s guidelines for recommending pages.)

These changes were certainly done algorithmically. Facebook’s notification that it would no longer be recommending pages said, “Our technology found your content doesn’t follow our Community Standards. As a result, our technology took action.”

Facebook ceasing to recommend pages means that these business will likely struggle to grow their followership outside of current follower shares or advertisements. It will have a particularly damaging effect on new businesses. Some have interpreted the change as a deliberate attempt by Meta to force businesses to advertise on Facebook.

Overall, many questions remain. Is Facebook no longer recommending certain alcohol-related business pages and other business pages an intentional change or it is in fact a bug? Did Facebook really make changes to pages that have age-restricted content, not communicate that to tens of thousands to millions of businesses, and a whole lot of other businesses were mistakenly swept up in those changes? Alternately, is the company’s software or AI running amok, and has the company failed to inform businesses of the issue? Will these pages resume being recommended at some point? Or, is this a permanent change?

Meta has not responded to repeated requests for comment or clarification about why this has taken place. It’s become increasingly clear, however, that a very large number of businesses around the world have been impacted by a change that Meta did not inform people was coming. If it is in fact a bug, the company has also failed to inform businesses about the issue in a timely fashion.

Editor’s Note #1: See an excellent article about all of this and how to monitor its impact.

Editor’s Note #2: Not sure if your business page has been affected? Go to your Facebook page and to Meta Business Suite. If you are affected, you will likely see an “Alert” at the top of the page. Alternately, go to your Facebook page->Professional Dashboard->Page Status (all the way to the right)->Page Recommendation. If your page has been affected, it will say “Your recommendations are suspended.”

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