Facebook Promotion Guidelines

Introduction

For complete details, refer to the official Policies for Pages, Groups, and Events and Facebook Developer Terms.

Requirements for running contests on Facebook

Every contest on Facebook must adhere to the following requirements:

Official rules

Clearly state the rules governing the contest.

Offer terms and eligibility requirements

Specify criteria such as age, residency restrictions, and other conditions for participation.

Compliance with applicable laws

Ensure your contest complies with all applicable laws, including those related to prize registration, approvals, and taxation.

Promotions on Facebook must also include

• A Release of Facebook:
  Each entrant or participant must release Facebook from liability.

• Acknowledgment of Non-Sponsorship:
  Include a statement that Facebook is not sponsoring, endorsing, administering, or associated with the promotion.

Tip: Legal terms, rules, and releases can be lengthy. Use a pop-up triggered by an Action Widget or place them in a container that can be easily shown or hidden to improve user experience.

Restrictions on contests

Certain practices are prohibited on Facebook when running contests. Below are the restrictions and suggested alternatives:

Requiring users to share to enter

Facebook prohibits contests requiring participants to share content or tag others to enter or win. According to Facebook’s Policies for Pages, Groups, and Events:
"Your promotion must not require or incentivize participants to share, repost, tag others, or otherwise publicize your promotion."

Alternative suggestion

Use a form with the Refer-a-Friend feature.

After a user submits an entry, encourage them to refer friends to the contest. For each friend who enters through their referral, the user earns extra chances to win.

Learn more about Refer-a-Friend.

Requiring users to "Like" pages to enter

You cannot require users to "Like" a Facebook page as a condition to enter a contest. This practice, known as "incentivizing" a Like, is prohibited under Meta's App Verification Details:
"Only incentivize a person to log into your app or enter a promotion. Don’t incentivize other actions."

Redirecting users

Contests that primarily aim to redirect participants to another website are not allowed. Meta's App Verification Details specify:
"Don’t build an app whose primary purpose is to redirect people off of Facebook."

Related resources

Running a Giveaway? Why “No Purchase Necessary” is Necessary (Blog)

How to Import Comments and Reactions from Facebook (Help Doc)