META REMOVES FACEBOOK NEWS IN ORDER TO STOP PAYING PUBLISHERS

Fri 01 March 2024:

Meta has said that it will no longer offer new Facebook products designed only for news publishers and will not be entering into new commercial agreements for conventional news content in Australia, France, or Germany.

Facebook News, a specific tab for news content, will be terminated by the company in the US and Australia at the beginning of April.

In the UK, France, and Germany, Facebook News stopped operating last year.

“People will still be able to view news on Facebook in feed in these countries, and publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages, where they can post their news article links and content,” the company said in a statement.

This update does not impact the existing agreements the company has in relation to Facebook News with news publishers in Australia, France and Germany until they expire.

“This is part of an ongoing effort to better align our investments to our products and services people value the most,” Meta said.

“As we previously shared in 2023, news makes up less than 3 per cent of what people around the world see in their Facebook feed, and is a small part of the Facebook experience for the vast majority of people,” said the company.

News organisations can still leverage products like Reels and ads system to reach broader audiences and drive people to their website, “where they keep 100 per cent of the revenue derived from outbound links on Facebook”.

In Australia and the US, the number of users of Facebook News dropped by more than 80% in the previous year.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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