Meta has withdrawn from Media Rating Council (MRC) brand safety audits, according to a report from eMarketer. The move ends the company's participation in the independent measurement body's review process for brand safety on its platforms.

The Media Rating Council is the industry-standard accreditation body for ad measurement and brand safety verification. Advertisers and agencies rely on MRC accreditation as a baseline signal that a platform's reported metrics and safety controls have been checked by an outside auditor. Pulling out of that process means Meta's brand safety claims will no longer carry independent, third-party audit sign-off through the MRC.

For media buyers, the practical consequence is straightforward. Brand safety measurement on Meta's platforms — Facebook, Instagram and the wider app family — will now depend on whatever verification the company provides directly, or on measurement partners working without the MRC audit framework covering Meta's own reporting. Holders of large brand budgets typically want accredited measurement before they commit spend at scale. The withdrawal removes one of the standard checks they have used.

The decision lands at a sensitive moment for the platform. Meta has been reworking its content moderation policies, and several major advertisers have publicly questioned whether their ads can appear alongside material they consider unsafe. An MRC exit narrows the set of external assurances available to those buyers at exactly the point they are asking harder questions.

Industry observers will read the move in one of two ways. Either Meta considers the audit process no longer worth the cost and administrative overhead, or the company prefers to control the narrative around brand safety at a time when independent review might produce inconvenient findings. Without a detailed statement from Meta laying out its reasoning, buyers are left to judge on the action itself.

The MRC accreditation system exists because platforms grading their own homework failed to satisfy advertisers. Measurement scandals across the industry over the past decade pushed brands, agencies and trade bodies to demand audited, standardized reporting. A platform of Meta's scale stepping outside that system puts the burden back on individual advertisers to satisfy themselves that brand safety controls work as advertised.

What happens next depends on advertiser reaction. If major spenders accept the change quietly, other platforms may follow the same path and the MRC's role in social media measurement shrinks. If buyers push back — through agency councils, trade bodies such as the ANA and WFA, or by shifting budgets — Meta may face pressure to re-enter the audit process or offer an equivalent independent verification.

For now, the fact on the record is simple: Meta is out of MRC brand safety audits. Advertisers running campaigns on its platforms should review what verification, if any, replaces the accredited process, and factor that gap into their 2025 planning assumptions.

Mart Signal will track advertiser and MRC responses as they develop.