Meta Ceases Facebook News and Ends Payment to News Publishers
London: Meta has announced its decision to terminate Facebook News and cease entering into new commercial agreements for traditional news content in Australia, France, and Germany. Additionally, Meta will discontinue offering new Facebook products specifically tailored for news publishers.
Starting in early April, Facebook News, a dedicated tab for news content, will be discontinued in the US and Australia. This move follows the deprecation of Facebook News in the UK, France, and Germany last year.
However, users in these countries will still be able to access news through their Facebook feed, and publishers will retain access to their Facebook accounts and Pages to post news article links and content.
Existing agreements with news publishers in Australia, France, and Germany related to Facebook News will remain in effect until they expire.
Meta stated that this decision is part of an ongoing effort to align investments with the products and services that users value the most.
The usage of Facebook News has declined significantly, with over an 80% drop in users in Australia and the US last year. Meta emphasized that news accounts for less than 3% of content seen in users’ Facebook feeds globally and is a minor aspect of the overall Facebook experience for the majority of users.
Despite the discontinuation of Facebook News, news organizations can still utilize products such as Reels and the ads system to reach broader audiences and direct traffic to their websites, where they retain full revenue from outbound links on Facebook.