The Facebook Comment Moderation Checklist for 2026

Most guides to Facebook comment moderation tell you what to do in theory. This one is a practical checklist — every step required to set up complete comment moderation protection for your Facebook ad campaigns, in order, in under 30 minutes.

Work through each section once and your comment sections will be protected automatically from that point forward.

Before You Start: What You Need

Before running through this checklist, confirm you have:

•[ ] Admin access to your Facebook Page
•[ ] Admin or Editor access to Meta Business Suite
•[ ] An active Facebook ad account connected to the Page
•[ ] (Optional) Instagram Business account linked to the same Facebook Page

If you're missing admin access to the Page, request it from your account owner before proceeding — you'll need it for both the native settings and third-party tool connection.

Section 1: Facebook Native Settings (5 minutes)

These are the baseline protections available within Facebook itself. They're free, easy to enable, and worth doing even if you also use a dedicated tool.

1.1 Enable Facebook's Profanity Filter

•[ ] Go to your Facebook Page
•[ ] Click Settings (bottom left of Page toolbar)
•[ ] Select General → Profanity Filter
•[ ] Set to Strong and save

This catches the most explicit language at the platform level. It won't stop spam or competitor links, but it's a useful baseline.

1.2 Add a Basic Keyword List in Page Settings

•[ ] Still in Page Settings, find Page Moderation
•[ ] Add your most obvious spam triggers: competitor brand names, known scam phrases, high-risk industry terms
•[ ] Save

Note: This list is limited and applies primarily to organic posts. Don't rely on it for ad comment protection — it's a supplement, not a solution.

1.3 Set Up Moderation Assist (if available)

•[ ] In Meta Business Suite, go to Inbox → Automations
•[ ] Check whether Moderation Assist is available for your account
•[ ] Enable any available automation for flagging comments containing links or profanity

Moderation Assist is available to some Pages but not all. If available, enable it as an additional layer.

Section 2: Connect a Dedicated Comment Moderation Tool (10 minutes)

For real ad comment moderation — including dark posts, real-time hiding, AI sentiment analysis, and full audit trails — you need a dedicated tool connected via the Meta Graph API. This section walks through setup with MyComments.io.

2.1 Create Your Account

•[ ] Go to mycomments.io/signup
•[ ] Sign up (no credit card required for free trial)

2.2 Connect Your Facebook Page

•[ ] Click Connect Facebook Page
•[ ] Complete the Meta OAuth flow — you'll be asked to select which Pages to give access to
•[ ] Grant the required permissions (comment reading + hiding)
•[ ] Confirm your Pages appear in your MyComments.io dashboard

2.3 Connect Instagram (if applicable)

•[ ] Click Connect Instagram
•[ ] Select your Instagram Business account (must be linked to a Facebook Page)
•[ ] Confirm it appears in the dashboard

If your Instagram is still a personal account, switch it to Business or Creator in Instagram Settings first. See: What you need to connect a comment moderation tool to Instagram

Section 3: Configure Your Core Moderation Rules (10 minutes)

This is where you define what gets hidden. Work through each rule type in order.

3.1 Enable Spam Detection

•[ ] Toggle on Hide Spam in your Page settings in the dashboard
•[ ] This covers bot content, scam promotions, and mass-generated comment patterns

3.2 Enable Link Hiding

•[ ] Toggle on Hide Links
•[ ] This automatically hides any comment containing a URL or hyperlink
•[ ] Consider your niche: if users occasionally post legitimate links (e.g., B2B SaaS where users share resources), set a manual review workflow for hidden link comments

3.3 Enable Profanity and Hate Speech Filtering

•[ ] Toggle on Hide Profanity
•[ ] Toggle on Hide Hate Speech if available
•[ ] These complement Facebook's native filter with more comprehensive vocabulary coverage

3.4 Enable AI Sentiment Analysis (Negativity Filtering)

•[ ] Toggle on Hide Negativity
•[ ] Review the sensitivity setting — start at Medium to balance coverage vs false positives
•[ ] Adjust after your first week of reviewing the hidden comment log

3.5 Set Your Confidence Level

•[ ] For each AI rule, set the confidence threshold that determines how certain the model needs to be before hiding
•[ ] Start conservative (high confidence required) and adjust based on your review logs

Section 4: Build Your Custom Keyword List (10 minutes)

This is the most brand-specific part of your setup. Spend 10 minutes reviewing your past 90 days of comments and adding the patterns you see.

4.1 Add Competitor Brand Names

•[ ] List your 3–5 main competitors
•[ ] Add their brand names, product names, and any variations you've seen used in comments
•[ ] Format: one phrase per line in the Custom Keywords field

4.2 Add Industry-Specific Spam Phrases

Use these as starting templates by industry:

E-commerce / DTC:

•[ ] AliExpress, Temu, Alibaba (if you're a premium brand)
•[ ] "same factory", "dropship", "fake reviews"
•[ ] "overpriced", "not worth it"

Finance / Insurance:

•[ ] "guaranteed returns", "crypto", "investment opportunity"
•[ ] "DM me", "inbox me for details"

Health / Beauty:

•[ ] "doesn't work", "no results", "waste of money"
•[ ] Specific ingredient scaremongering phrases in your niche

SaaS / Software:

•[ ] Competitor product names
•[ ] "better alternative", "free version available"

4.3 Add Any Brand-Specific Terms

•[ ] Think about complaints or issues specific to your product history
•[ ] Add any phrases that have appeared repeatedly in your comment logs

Section 5: Set Up Your Review Workflow (5 minutes)

Automated comment moderation needs occasional human review. Set this up as a repeating task:

5.1 Schedule a Weekly Comment Log Review

•[ ] Block 15 minutes each week (Monday morning works well) to review your hidden comment log
•[ ] In MyComments.io, go to your hidden comments log
•[ ] Review for false positives — legitimate comments incorrectly hidden
•[ ] Unhide any false positives with one click
•[ ] Note any new spam patterns for your custom keyword list

5.2 Set Up Alerts for High-Volume Events

•[ ] If you're running a product launch or promotion, note it in your calendar
•[ ] High-traffic periods generate higher comment volumes — check your log more frequently during these times

Section 6: Verify Everything Is Working (2 minutes)

Before considering setup complete:

•[ ] Post a test comment on one of your active ads containing a URL — confirm it's hidden within seconds
•[ ] Check your MyComments.io dashboard and confirm the comment appears in the hidden log with the correct rule trigger
•[ ] Confirm your Instagram account is also showing hidden activity (if connected)

Post-Setup: Ongoing Maintenance Checklist

Run this monthly:

•[ ] Review hidden comment log for new patterns
•[ ] Update custom keyword list based on what you're seeing
•[ ] Check that all your active ad campaigns are covered (new Pages or ad accounts need to be connected)
•[ ] Review any rule adjustments needed based on false positive rate

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to set up Facebook comment moderation?

Working through this checklist takes approximately 30 minutes for an initial full setup: 5 minutes for native settings, 10 minutes to connect a tool like MyComments.io, 10 minutes to configure rules, and 5 minutes to build your custom keyword list. After that, moderation runs automatically with a 10–15 minute weekly review.

Do I need to set up comment moderation separately for each Facebook ad?

No. When you connect your Facebook Page to a comment moderation tool via the Meta API, it covers all posts and ads on that Page automatically — including new ads as they're created. You don't need to configure anything per ad.

Should I hide all negative comments on my Facebook ads?

No. The checklist above is designed to hide spam, scams, competitor promotions, and harmful content — not legitimate customer feedback. Genuine complaints, questions, and even critical comments are worth responding to publicly. The AI negativity filter is designed to catch pile-ons and coordinated negativity, not every comment that isn't positive.

What's the difference between Facebook's built-in moderation and a third-party tool?

Facebook's native tools are free but limited: the profanity filter doesn't cover all ad placements (particularly dark posts), there's no AI sentiment analysis, and there's no audit log. Third-party tools like MyComments.io use the Meta API to provide real-time moderation across all post types including dark posts, AI sentiment analysis, unlimited custom keywords, and a full hidden comment audit log.

What happens if a legitimate comment gets hidden by mistake?

Hidden comments can be reviewed and unhidden at any time from your dashboard with one click. The commenter isn't notified either way. This is why the weekly comment log review in Section 5 is important — it catches false positives before they become issues.

The Facebook Comment Moderation Checklist for 2026 (Set Up in 30 Minutes)