Facebook announced Thursday that it will phase out the Facebook News tab in the United States and Australia starting in early April.
In an update published Thursday, Facebook also said it will enter into new commercial deals for news content on Facebook News in Australia, France and Germany after existing deals with publishers expire in those countries. He said he would not tie it. Contracts with UK and US publishers have already ended.
The company said it has no plans to launch new products specifically customized for news publishers in the future.
The news comes three years after Facebook agreed to support selected publishers in Australia after a bitter battle with the Canberra government over payments for content. The uproar prompted Facebook to temporarily ban Australian news content from its platform.
The Australian government on Friday condemned Facebook’s parent company Meta’s decision to “no longer pay for news content in many jurisdictions”, saying it “represents a failure of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media”. “There is,” he said.
In a joint statement, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Deputy Treasurer Stephen Jones said Canberra was seeking advice on “next steps”.
“This decision eliminates an important source of income for Australian news media companies,” it said in a statement. “Australian news publishers should be fairly compensated for the content they provide.”
Facebook said the move to eliminate the Facebook News tab in Australia and the US, following similar actions in the UK, France and Germany in September, will help it “better align investments with our products and services that people value.” This is part of our ongoing efforts to number one. ”
The decision comes as Facebook acknowledges that users primarily visit the platform to connect socially and explore their passions, rather than for news or political content.
According to the latest information, “the number of people using Facebook News in Australia and the United States has fallen by more than 80% in the last year.” According to Facebook data, news content makes up less than 3% of what users around the world see on their Facebook feeds.
Other meta products and services in these countries remain unaffected by this change. Users can still access news articles through shared links on the platform.
