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Following the tab’s discontinuation in the UK, France, and Germany
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced that it will be removing the Facebook News tab for users in the US and Australia starting in early April. This decision is part of Meta’s strategy to prioritize investments in products and services that are most valued by users. The News tab was previously retired in the UK, France, and Germany in December 2023, as Meta redirected its resources towards more popular features such as short form videos.
According to Meta, the number of people using the News tab in the US and Australia has declined by 80% over the past year, indicating that news content is not a significant part of users’ Facebook experience. The company stated that people primarily use Facebook to connect with others and explore personal interests, rather than for news and political content.
In addition to removing the News tab, Meta will also stop paying publishers in Australia for their content once their current deals expire. This decision comes after Facebook previously blocked news links in response to proposed legislation requiring the company to pay media organizations for their content. However, Facebook later unblocked news links after reaching agreements with Australian media outlets.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission estimates that Meta, along with Google, entered into deals worth approximately $200 million per year with various outlets, including Guardian Australia and News Corp Australia. Meta’s share of this total amount is around $66 million, and its decision to remove the News tab is expected to have a significant impact on the news industry in Australia. Meta has made it clear that it will not engage in new commercial deals for traditional news content in regions where the News tab has been removed.
It is important to note that Meta has not blocked news links in the aforementioned countries, and Facebook users can still access news content posted on the platform. Publishers are also able to continue sharing links to their stories on their official pages as usual.