by Sharell Bart
March 2, 2024
Don’t worry, Black Business has got you!
Facebook’s parent company Meta has announced that the Facebook News tab will be shut down in the United States and Australia starting April 2024.
The decision regarding this popular feature comes from the company’s efforts to “better align investments with the products and services people value most.”
“As a company, we must focus our time and resources on what people have told us they want to see more of on our platforms,” the social media conglomerate said.
“We know people don’t come to Facebook for news or political content; they come to connect with others and discover new opportunities, passions and interests.”
The announcement is a continuation of Meta’s strategy following its retirement of the same tab in the UK, France and Germany at the end of 2023. Frequent users of the feature took to social media to call for stronger measures to provide less information to users. In 2021, Facebook gave all users, including celebrities, politicians, brands, and news organizations, the ability to limit who can comment on their posts. “We initially prevented users from commenting on news articles, but now we have removed the entire news section.” Written by @nasescobar316.
“@Meta doesn’t want people to know. And like most big tech companies, they don’t want to pay the people who create the content.”
Although users may not be able to comment, the company assured users that they can get news on the app. “People will still be able to view links to news articles on Facebook,” Mehta said. “News publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and pages, and will be able to post links to articles and direct people to their websites just like any other person or organization. We can guide you.”
Launched in 2019, the feature initially aimed to “bring people closer to the stories that impact their lives,” but the number of people using the feature has grown by 2023 in the past year. It is reported that the number decreased by more than 80% in 2017. CNBC. Meta is currently focusing on short-form video content like Reels as it competes heavily with TikTok.
The move also reflects efforts by other countries, such as Australia and Canada, to force big tech platforms to pay news organizations for their content. A 2021 Australian law requires both Google and Meta to enter into contracts with news organizations. Canada enacted similar legislation, resulting in Meta blocking users in both regions from viewing and sharing news content.
California considered a similar measure but put it on hold.
Related content: Meta’s 2022 diversity report shows remote work has led to a more diverse workforce
