Facebook has launched a product for journalists to register with the platform and receive features and tools designed to support them. This is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to identify the journalists publishing on its platform and understand how Facebook can better serve them.
With the launch, journalists in Kenya can register to receive safety and security features that help further protect their Facebook and Instagram accounts. Moving forward, this registration flow will allow Facebook to roll out additional features and use cases designed with journalists in mind.
Journalists can either register through an in-app quick promotion (QP) sent proactively by Facebook to accounts who are likely to be journalists, or through this Help Center page where anyone can access the registration flow. Registration is voluntary, and journalists must opt in to receive each program benefit.
To register as a journalist, applicants must verify their affiliation with a news organization that is registered as a news Page on Facebook. They can do this by submitting five byline news articles in which you are the author or contributor, submitting a link to your biography on a news organization’s staff directory page, or by providing a professional email address. Journalists who are currently candidates for political office, are campaign staffers working for a candidate for political office, or for a government employee are not eligible to register.
Once a journalist has registered, their personal Facebook account will be added to an internal list of accounts that will receive safety and security protections geared towards keeping vulnerable groups safe. Applicants may also be eligible to receive Facebook Blue Badge Verification and access to Crowd Tangle Search.
What are the requirements/criteria for inclusion?
Journalists on Facebook who meet all of the criteria below are encouraged to register and receive safety and security protections:
- You are affiliated with a news organization that is registered as a news Page on Facebook.
- You can verify your affiliation with a news organization that is registered as a news Page on Facebook by providing at least one of the following:
- a professional email address
- links to five (5) news articles that credit you as an author or contributor in the byline
- a link to your biography on a staff directory page
- You live in any of the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, France, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, the Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya
- You are not currently a candidate for political office, a campaign staffer working for a candidate for political office, or a government employee.