RIP to Facebook’s News tab. My friend’s mom loves you so much.
Next month, Meta will remove the Facebook News hub from the bookmarks section of the platform in the U.S. and Australia. It has already removed Facebook News in the UK, France and Germany, a move that should come as no surprise to those who have been following Meta’s ongoing attempts to distance its platform from politics and news.
The company says it’s killing the tab to “focus our time and resources on the content people tell us they want to see more of on the platform, including short-form videos.” Yes, folks, on Facebook No more news so the platform can spend more time and money on Reels.
Why you may not see news on Facebook or Instagram in Canada
“We know people come to Facebook not for news and political content, but to connect with people and discover new opportunities, passions and interests.” Meta said in a blog post. “As we’ve shared before in 2023, news makes up less than 3% of what people around the world see in their Facebook feeds, and is only a small part of the vast majority of people’s Facebook experience.”
You can still view links to news articles and follow news publishers on their Facebook pages and accounts. But the News tab has won publishers millions of dollars in content deals that will disappear. As the blog post states, there will be no new news commerce deals, nor any “future new Facebook products specifically for news publishers.”
If you want to download Facebook news data for any reason, please access your Facebook information in your profile settings.