Meta bars elected officials from earning, but 13 Bangladeshi MPs can monetize
On March 4, Hasnat Abdullah held up his mobile phone during a video posted by NTV and showed viewers how his Facebook account was earning money from content.
Hasnat, a member of parliament from Cumilla-4 and a leader of the National Citizens Party (NCP) showed that one image had earned $330 after being viewed millions of times. He also showed a video that had earned $40 and said his account had earned $129 in the first two days of March alone.
According to the monetization archive maintained by WHAT TO FIX, Hasnat’s verified Facebook account joined Meta’s monetization program on February 7 this year and was de-listed on April 5.
But Hasnat’s case was not isolated.
A Dismislab analysis of Meta’s partner-publisher list found at least 13 additional verified Facebook accounts belonging to Bangladeshi politicians who became members of parliament in the 13th National Assembly election. All remained active in Meta’s Content Monetization program, despite Meta’s policy barring elected officials, political candidates, political parties and government officials from earning money through its platforms.
The accounts include pages and profiles belonging to three Cabinet ministers. Dismislab also found ads running on videos posted from 12 of the 13 verified accounts. At least two of the verified accounts joined Meta’s Content Monetization program after the final candidate list for the election was published.
Dismislab also found 22 additional unverified Facebook accounts opened in the names of Bangladeshi lawmakers and ministers on Meta’s partner-publisher list. Ten had run political ads on Facebook during the election campaign.
Meta’s own monetization policy bars current elected officials, political candidates, government officials, political parties and government entities from earning money through its platforms.
The findings raise questions about how Meta vets accounts for monetization, whether it enforces its own political eligibility rules consistently, and whether elected officials should be allowed to maintain financial ties with a platform they may be in a position to regulate.
What Meta’s monetization list shows
Meta’s partner-publisher list identifies pages and profiles that are enrolled in the company’s monetization programs on a given date. Meta says the list shows publishers that have signed up for monetization and follow its Partner Monetization Policies, and that the list is publicly downloadable through its Brand Safety and Suitability Center.
Dismislab also used a historical archive of the list maintained by WHAT TO FIX, a Netherlands-based organization that tracks social media monetization policies and transparency. The archive records when accounts joined Meta’s monetization programs, which programs they joined and whether those accounts remain active or were later de-listed.
According to WHAT TO FIX, an account’s appearance on the partner-publisher list means it entered Meta’s monetization system on a specific date and passed the company’s approval process.
Meta’s Partner Monetization Policies say current elected and appointed government officials, current political candidates, political parties, registered political committees, and government agencies and departments are not eligible for monetization.
Meta has offered video content creators the opportunity to earn money through its in-stream ads and ads on reels programs since 2017. In October 2024, the company announced an expansion, allowing creators to also earn money through photos and text. Meta named the new program Content Monetization. The older in-stream ads and ads on reels programs were discontinued August 31, 2025, and consolidated into the Content Monetization program.
Meta’s Content Monetization program is also currently available by invitation only. Creators can express interest, but only accounts invited by Meta can enroll. That means the lawmakers and ministers identified by Dismislab as being part of the program were not merely seeking to earn from Facebook; their accounts had been proactively invited by Meta to access its monetization system.
Although appearing on Meta’s partner-publisher list does not necessarily guarantee that an account is actively earning money, it indicates that Meta has approved the account for its monetization program and that the account has the potential to generate revenue.
At least 13 verified accounts of lawmakers remained monetized
Dismislab found verified Facebook pages and profiles belonging to at least 13 politicians who won seats in Bangladesh’s 13th National Assembly election on Meta’s partner-publisher list. All remained active in Meta’s Content Monetization program at the time of Dismislab’s review.
Seven of the accounts belong to members of parliament from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, the current ruling party. Five belong to members of parliament from Jamaat-e-Islami, the main opposition party. One belongs to an independent lawmaker.
The accounts include pages or profiles belonging to three Cabinet members: Khandakar Abdul Muktadir, minister for industries, commerce, jute and textiles; Aninda Islam Amit, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources; and Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin, state minister for land and Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs.
Dismislab also found that at least two verified accounts belonging to lawmakers joined Meta’s Content Monetization program after the final candidate list for the election was published on January 22. The verified profile of Hassan Rajib Pradhan, a member of parliament from Lalmonirhat-1, was enrolled on February 4, 2026. The verified profile of SK Farid Ahmed, a member of parliament from Chandpur-3, was enrolled on February 11, 2026, the day before the election.
The largest following among the 13 verified accounts belongs to Md. Shafiqul Islam, a Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker from Patuakhali-2. His verified page has more than 1.7 million followers. The page is categorized as “politician,” its bio identifies him as a member of parliament, and its transparency section says Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is responsible for the page. The party also paid for eight political ads from the page in 2025-26.
According to WHAT TO FIX’s archive, Shafiqul Islam’s page has been part of Meta’s in-stream ads program since November 2018. Ads on reels were enabled in April 2025, and the page joined Facebook’s Content Monetization program in September 2025. The account remained active in monetization at the time of Dismislab’s review.
Dismislab contacted Shafiqul Islam to ask whether monetization was active on his verified page. He said he would need to check because the account is managed by his IT team. He said that, to his knowledge, he does not earn income from Facebook.
Hasnat’s account was de-listed, but related pages remained listed
According to WHAT TO FIX’s archive, Hasnat Abdullah’s verified Facebook account joined Meta’s Content Monetization program on February 7, 2026 and was delisted on April 5, 2026. The account no longer appeared on Meta’s current partner-publisher list at the time of Dismislab’s review, indicating that it was no longer actively enrolled in monetization.
However, two other pages tied to Hasnat remained on Meta’s partner-publisher list.
His electoral campaign page, Hasnat for Cumilla-4, which has 1.2 million followers, was added to the list on April 25, 2026. Political ads were also run from the page during the election campaign.
Another verified page tied to Hasnat, Jababdihita, was added to the list on April 28, 2026. The page has more than 300,000 followers and is used to publish posts related to financial allocations and expenditures in Hasnat’s constituency.
The findings show that Meta removed monetization from Hasnat’s verified account after his Facebook earnings became public, but other pages associated with his political activities remained eligible for monetization.
Dismislab sought comment from Hasnat Abdullah through one of his associates and also sent questions directly to his phone. He did not respond before publication.
Ads appeared on videos posted by lawmakers
Dismislab also checked whether ads were appearing on videos published by the 13 verified accounts belonging to members of parliament. Ads were found on videos from 12 of the 13 accounts.
Dismislab checked videos from the identified accounts manually and documented cases where commercial ads appeared before, during or below the videos. Because ad delivery can vary by viewer, device, location and time, the research team treated the ads as evidence that Meta’s advertising system was serving commercial placements on content from these monetized accounts, not as proof of how much money each account earned.
The ads appeared in different formats. Some were mid-roll ads, interrupting videos as they played. Others appeared as single-image ads below the videos.
For example, a Horlicks ad appeared below a video posted by SM Jilani, a BNP lawmaker from Gopalganj-3. A Ruchi sauce ad appeared on a video posted by Md. Moktar Ali, a Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker from Jessore-6.
Dismislab also found a Sensodyne toothpaste ad during a video posted by Md. Abdus Sattar, a Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker from Nilphamari-1, and a Sunsilk shampoo ad during a video posted by Md. Khaled Hossain Mahboob, a BNP lawmaker from Brahmanbaria-3.
The specific ads were likely shaped by Meta’s algorithm based on the viewer’s location or browsing behavior, meaning the same video may show different advertisements to different viewers.
Meta enforced the rule in one case, but not others
Meta’s enforcement was not uniform.
Dismislab found one case in which Meta revoked monetization after identifying a Bangladeshi election candidate. Meghna Alam, who ran from the Dhaka-8 constituency, had been enrolled in Meta’s Content monetization program since September, 2025, according to WHAT TO FIX’s archive. Her monetization was revoked on January 28, 2026, after the final candidate list for the election was published.
Alam told Dismislab that Meta sent her a notification saying monetization was limited for political persons. After the February 12 election, her monetization was reinstated on February 15 and remained active at the time of Dismislab’s review.
But Dismislab found other candidates and elected politicians whose accounts faced no such restriction. Tasneem Jara, who ran as an independent candidate from Dhaka-9, has a verified Facebook account with 7.6 million followers. According to WHAT TO FIX’s archive, the account has been monetized since July 2020 and remained active throughout the election period.
The same was true for the 13 verified accounts belonging to politicians who won seats and became members of parliament. Dismislab did not find records showing that Meta revoked monetization from those accounts during the campaign or after they became elected officials.
Unverified accounts in lawmakers’ names also appeared on the list
Dismislab also found at least 22 unverified Facebook accounts opened in the names of Bangladeshi lawmakers and ministers on Meta’s partner-publisher list.
Because these accounts are not verified, Dismislab treated them separately from the 13 verified accounts. But several carried indicators that they belonged to or represented politicians: Nine listed their category as “politician” or “political party,” all regularly posted content about lawmakers’ or ministers’ activities, and 10 had run political ads on Facebook, including election campaign content.
Thirteen of the accounts were opened in the names of BNP members of parliament. Among them was a profile in the name of Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, which had more than 44,000 followers.
Dismislab also found two unverified accounts — one profile and one page — in the name of Md. Shariful Alam, state minister for jute and textiles. No verified Facebook page or profile was found for him. The profile had 46,000 followers and the page had 57,000. Both were enrolled in Meta’s Content Monetization program.
Some unverified accounts joined Meta’s Content Monetization program after the election. The Facebook pages of S.M. Rafiqul Islam, member of parliament from Gazipur-3, and Md. Zahidul Islam Dhalu, member of parliament from Naogaon-5, joined on March 12, 2026 and April 20, 2026 respectively. Both dates came after they became members of parliament. Rafiqul Islam’s page had also run 23 political ads during the January-February election campaign period.
Dismislab also found eight accounts opened in the names of Jamaat-e-Islami members of parliament on the partner-publisher list. Among them were accounts in the names of Zahirul Islam of Chattogram-16, Md. Ilias Molla of Faridpur-1 and Md. Abu Taleb of Jhenaidah-4, all of which had run political ads during the election campaign. Another account, in the name of Mufti Amir Hamza of Kushtia-3, had more than 800,000 followers.
Dismislab treated the unverified accounts separately from the verified accounts. However, all 22 unverified accounts were listed in social media account information submitted to election officials during the campaign, according to records reviewed by Dismislab.
Under Bangladesh’s Political Parties and Candidates Code of Conduct, 2025, candidates, election agents or people campaigning on their behalf are allowed to campaign on social media, but must submit identifying information — including the platform name, account ID and email address — to the relevant returning officer before beginning digital campaign activities. The same rules require social media campaign expenses, including content creation, advertisements, boosting and sponsorships, to be included in election expense reports.
Experts say Meta needs stronger vetting
Victoire Rio, executive director of WHAT TO FIX, said Meta should apply stronger checks before approving accounts for monetization, particularly when accounts show signs of being linked to politicians, political parties or public officials.
“Meta’s business partner qualification process should be drastically improved,” Rio told Dismislab. She said the company should apply “Know Your Business Partner” practices and subject higher-risk accounts to greater scrutiny.
Rio said that heightened checks could apply not only to accounts marked as politicians or political parties, but also to accounts with large followings, a history of policy violations or signs of inauthenticity.
Asked whether unverified Facebook accounts opened in the names of lawmakers or ministers should be eligible for monetization, Rio said Meta should consider the broader evidence around an account.
“Several people can carry the same name, but if there are clear indicators that these accounts are pertaining to be candidates or office holders, then these accounts should not be able pass the onboarding review”.
Victoire Rio
Dismislab reached out to Meta for comment on these apparent policy violations. This report will be updated to include Meta’s response.
The findings also raise conflict-of-interest concerns. Lawmakers and ministers may be involved in shaping or scrutinizing technology policy, taxation, platform regulation or advertising rules. Allowing such officials to earn money through Meta’s platforms creates a financial relationship between the company and people who may be in a position to regulate it.
Asked whether an elected representative could remain objective in holding a company accountable while earning money from that company’s platform, Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Shafiqul Islam did not respond to the question.
He said elected politicians should be allowed to monetize their content. “A politician is also a citizen of the country,” he said. “As a citizen, whatever opportunities others get, those opportunities should be available equally.”
Shafiqul said, however, that he did not personally want to earn from Facebook and had instructed his IT team accordingly. “To my knowledge, I have no income from Facebook,” he said.
Transparency International Bangladesh’s Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman said, by this Meta is also enabling potential legislation and public policy-making bedeviled by conflict of interest and disregard to the principle of equal rights and justice. “On the other hand this also reaffirms the growing importance of national and international policy measures to ensure accountability of over-empowered platforms like Meta,” he said.
Methodology
Dismislab identified Bangladeshi lawmakers and ministers whose Facebook accounts appeared on Meta’s partner-publisher list by cross-checking the list with official results of the 13th National Assembly election, held February 12, 2026.
Meta’s partner-publisher list is publicly searchable by page name or ID. To review historical enrollment and delisting records, Dismislab used the monetization archive maintained by WHAT TO FIX, which tracks accounts on Meta’s list, their enrollment dates, program types and status changes.
Dismislab separately reviewed verified accounts and unverified accounts. For unverified accounts, Dismislab checked whether the accounts appeared in social media account information submitted to election officials during the campaign, then cross-checked those accounts against Meta’s partner-publisher list and WHAT TO FIX’s archive.
To verify ad delivery, Dismislab manually reviewed videos from the 13 verified accounts and documented examples of ads appearing before, during or below the videos. Because ad delivery can vary by viewer, device, location and time, the examples were used to document that ads were being served on the content, not to calculate earnings.
Enrollment dates were compared with the publication date of the final candidate list for the election, issued January 22, 2026, to identify accounts that joined Meta’s monetization program after candidates were officially declared.
