Facebook's unloved 'News' area is going away in Europe

September 6, 2023: On Tuesday, Meta has announced that the Facebook News feature will be deprecated from the UK, France, and Germany bookmarks section in early December.

The company added that it plans on spending more time and money on short-form video, as best exemplified by its TikTok-like Reels product. Meta said that news represents less than 3% of what people see in their Facebook feeds.

Meta said it would honor the Facebook News obligations it had made to publishers in those countries, but it won’t enter into new deals and has no plans to offer new products for news publishers.

Meta debuted Facebook News in 2019, saying the product “was built to bring people closer to the stories that affect their lives.”

The decision to deprecate Facebook News is part of a broader move away from the news business. The company recently shut down access to news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada after its government passed the Online News Act, which requires tech firms to pay content fees to media outlets nationwide.

Meta disagreed with the Canadian law, saying that “the legislation misrepresents the value news outlets receive when choosing to use our platforms” and that it is “based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms.”

Some news experts criticized Meta’s decision to block users from viewing or posting news links in Canada, saying that it could lead to a rise of misinformation and negatively impact local news organizations.

Editor's Choice

Posts You Might Like

Building a “Brick-and-click” Future | Suresh Madan

Changes in how health care is delivered have had to occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Healthcare systems are adjusting the way they triage, evaluate, and care for patients via methods that do not rely on in-person encounters.

Building A Community, With A Purpose | Sébastien Grenache

Sébastien Grenache’s vision and determination set him apart from most leaders. As soon as he entered the specialty coffee industry after acquiring Café Saint-Henri, he decided to take a new approach to making specialty coffee approachable and accessible to everyone.

A Transformational Leader | Neha Sahi

What makes a good leader? Competence, expertise, communication skills, integrity? Likely no one would argue that. But what makes an exceptional leader? How about all that plus a wonderful personality?

Leading with a Mission | Nadia Akseer

Dr. Nadia Akseer is a curious, driven leader inspired by complex and multidisciplinary global health issues. She is interested in providing opportunities for junior scientists and artists and creating a powerful workplace for their nexus and integration.

The-corporate-magazine-15

Leave us a message

Subscribe

Fill the form our team will contact you

Advertise with us

Fill the form our team will contact you​