Facebook’s News tab launched in 2019, offering publishers multi-million dollar content deals (reportedly $10 million in content deals) Wall Street Journal, US$20 million for New York Times, and $3 million from CNN), but by April it was gone forever. Meta said it will “deprecate” Facebook News in the United States and Australia in April 2024, will not enter into new news business deals, and will “not provide new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future.”
Facebook News, located in the News tab, is no longer available in the UK, France, and Germany. Starting in early April, it will no longer be available in the United States and Australia. learn more.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has retreated from news—remember Instant Articles? ——The ominous omen is already there. In 2022, it shifted its focus from news to the creator economy, with former news partners chief Campbell Brown leaving the company last October.
But when it launched Facebook News in 2019, the company said, “We hope this work helps us sustain great journalism and strengthen democracy” and that a survey “found we’re not doing many of the things people want most.” Subject provides services”. News feed, especially categories like entertainment, health, business, and sports. “
Now, Meta is sending a different message, reiterating this claim: “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.” Instead of paying publishers, Meta “must focus our time and resources on the content people tell us they want to see more of on the platform, including short-form videos.”
It also invites publishers to continue posting links on their own pages, using products like Reels and ads to drive people to their own sites and away from Facebook.
Facebook’s termination of licensing deals is old news in the United States, where it abandoned them two years ago, but in Australia it canceled $70 million in annual payments to Sky News Australia, News Corp, Seven, Nine and other media outlets. , and protector. The three-year deals were reached after the Australian government passed the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, which is set to expire soon.
The power struggle in 2021 ended after Australia changed its laws and included Facebook temporarily imposing a news ban and shutting down the pages of government organizations and nonprofits. Facebook and Instagram blocked news in Canada last year due to similar laws.