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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has slowly been moving away from news-related content due to various reasons. Now, as part of its efforts to realign investments, Meta has announced that it will discontinue Facebook News in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, starting in early December.
The company first introduced Facebook News in 2019 as a dedicated news section for publishers residing within the main Facebook interface and serving as a platform for both local and international news. However, shortly after its launch, the platform came under scrutiny from countries such as Canada, which demanded that the company must equally compensate publishers. This resulted in Meta blocking news content in Canada.
In contrast, the company’s decision to discontinue news content in these European countries stems from its strategic direction to allocate resources toward services and products that align more closely with users’ preferences. This is because news content currently constitutes less than 3% of what users encounter in their Facebook feeds. Therefore, instead of focusing on news content, the company will shift its attention to short-form videos and explore new interests.
“We know that people don’t come to Facebook for news and political content – they come to connect with people and discover new opportunities, passions and interests,” reads the company’s blog post.
What will happen to the existing agreements?
Despite the plans for the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, Meta has confirmed that it will honor the existing agreements with publishers in these countries. However, the company has pointed out that it does not foresee the introduction of new Facebook products specifically tailored for news publishers in the future.
Additionally, Meta has also clarified that it is not blocking access to articles or publishers’ pages in the affected European countries. Moreover, publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages, allowing them to post links to their stories and direct users to their websites like any other individual or organization.
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