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In early April 2024, Meta will deprecate Facebook News – a dedicated tab in the bookmarks section on Facebook that spotlights news – in the US and Australia. This follows the September 2023 announcement that Meta deprecated Facebook News in the UK, France and Germany last year.
This is part of an ongoing effort to better align the investments to the products and services people value the most. As a company, Meta has to focus the time and resources on things people tell us they want to see more of on the platform, including short form video. The number of people using news on Facebook in Australia and the U.S. has dropped by over 80% last year. Meta knows 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. As Meta previously shared in 2023, news makes up less than 3% 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.
The changes affecting the Facebook News feature will not otherwise impact Meta’s products and services in these countries. People will still be able to view links to news articles on Facebook. News publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages, where they can post links to their stories and direct people to their websites, in the same way any other individual or organization can. News organizations can also still leverage products like Reels and the ads system to reach broader audiences and drive people to their website, where they keep 100% of the revenue derived from outbound links on Facebook.
While Meta will be deprecating Facebook News in these countries, this announcement does not impact the terms under the existing news on Facebook agreements with publishers in Australia, France and Germany. These deals have already expired in the US and the UK. Additionally, to ensure that Meta continues to invest in products and services that drive user engagement, Meta will not enter into new commercial deals for traditional news content in these countries and will not offer new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future.
Commitment to Connecting People to Reliable Information
This does not impact the commitment to connecting people to reliable information on Meta platforms. Meta works with third-party fact-checkers — certified through accreditation bodies like the non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network — who review and rate viral misinformation on the apps. Meta has built the largest global fact-checking network of any platform by partnering with more than 90 independent fact-checking organizations around the world who review content in more than 60 languages. Meta has contributed more than $150 million to programs supporting the fact-checking efforts since 2016 to combat the spread of misinformation and Meta will continue to invest in this area.
Source: Meta
