Meta said it is going to scrap Facebook’s news feature for US and Australian users in April – establishing a possible showdown with lawmakers in each countries who’ve ripped the tech giant’s treatment of the media industry.
Meta said in a blog post late Thursday it “is not going to enter into recent business deals for traditional news content in these countries and is not going to offer recent Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the long run.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant said eliminating Facebook’s “News Tab” was “a part of an ongoing effort to higher align our investments to our services people value essentially the most.” The corporate said the number of individuals using the News Tab in each countries dropped by greater than 80% in 2023.
“As an organization, we’ve to focus our time and resources on things people tell us they need to see more of on the platform, including short form video,” Meta said within the blog post.
Within the US, the removal of Facebook’s “News Tab” is the just the most recent sign of pullback by Meta. In 2022, the corporate began telling US news publishers it might not pay for content and pulled all funding for the deals.
On Friday, News/Media Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group that represents a whole lot of stories outlets, shredded Meta for ending the service.
“That is consistent with Meta practices world wide to distance itself from news content,” News/Media Alliance president & CEO Danielle Coffey said. “Appears to be a conscious decision to steer away from quality and towards misinformation.”
Meta informed outlets in Australia that it might not renew their deals at the identical time the blog post went live to tell the tale Friday, The Guardian reported. The country’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, blasted Meta’s decision, telling reporters it was “not the Australian way.”
“We all know that it’s absolutely critical that media is in a position to function properly and be properly funded,” Albanese said. “Journalism is significant and the concept research and work done by others may be taken free is just untenable.”
“No one needs to be under any doubts in regards to the government’s resolve to be certain that we’ve a viable media industry on this country,” added Australia’s assistant treasurer Stephen Jones.
The move got here after Meta removed the News Tab in the UK, France, and Germany last yr. Meta said the changes would “not impact the terms under our existing Facebook News agreements with publishers in Australia, France, and Germany,” and that its deal within the US and UK had already expired.
Executive chairman Michael Miller of News Corp Australia – which shares a parent company with The Post – said he welcomed “the federal government’s support for the Australian media industry and its wholehearted commitment to upholding our laws and the News Media Bargaining Code.”
“Meta is using its immense market power to refuse to barter, and the federal government is correct to explore every option for a way the Media Bargaining Code’s powers may be used,” Miller said.
“Meta is attempting to mislead Australians by saying its decision is in regards to the closure of its news tab product, nevertheless the overwhelming majority of stories on Facebook and Meta is and can proceed to be consumed outside this product,” Miller added. “Meta’s decision will directly impact the viability of Australia’s many small and regional publishers and it is a pressing issue for the federal government to confront.”
“We are going to work in any way we will to help the processes the federal government is setting up.”
The Post has reached out to Meta for further comment.
Media outlets will still have access to their Facebook pages and Meta’s services will otherwise be unaffected, in accordance with the blog post. Which means users will find a way to view news articles inside the Facebook app.
But the corporate has been criticized for years by government officials who say it hasn’t properly compensated the media industry for the traffic generated by its news content.
A recent study said that in a conservative estimate, Facebook should pay news outlets nearly $2 billion per yr for his or her content based on its overall digital ad revenue, The Post reported last November. The identical study found that Google should pay anywhere from $10 billion to $12 billion annually.
In 2021, Facebook signed a series of publishing deals after Australia passed a law requiring tech firms to barter with publishers. The corporate temporarily pulled news content from its platform before returning to the negotiating table.
Last yr, Facebook discontinued the News Tab in Canada in response to an analogous law.
Meanwhile, within the US, Meta threatened to drag news content for Facebook and Instagram users in California last yr after the state advanced laws that will require “online platforms” to pay a “journalism usage fee” to outlets whose content appears on their sites.
Facebook has pulled back from news services because it faces a wave of presidency scrutiny over its business practices – including its failure to guard kids from online horrors starting from sexual exploitation to anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts.
The corporate has denied wrongdoing and touted various tools it has released to guard users.
The crisis led Sen. Lindsey Graham to declare at a high-profile Senate hearing earlier this yr that Zuckerberg has “blood on his hands.”
Meta said it is going to scrap Facebook’s news feature for US and Australian users in April – establishing a possible showdown with lawmakers in each countries who’ve ripped the tech giant’s treatment of the media industry.
Meta said in a blog post late Thursday it “is not going to enter into recent business deals for traditional news content in these countries and is not going to offer recent Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the long run.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant said eliminating Facebook’s “News Tab” was “a part of an ongoing effort to higher align our investments to our services people value essentially the most.” The corporate said the number of individuals using the News Tab in each countries dropped by greater than 80% in 2023.
“As an organization, we’ve to focus our time and resources on things people tell us they need to see more of on the platform, including short form video,” Meta said within the blog post.
Within the US, the removal of Facebook’s “News Tab” is the just the most recent sign of pullback by Meta. In 2022, the corporate began telling US news publishers it might not pay for content and pulled all funding for the deals.
On Friday, News/Media Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group that represents a whole lot of stories outlets, shredded Meta for ending the service.
“That is consistent with Meta practices world wide to distance itself from news content,” News/Media Alliance president & CEO Danielle Coffey said. “Appears to be a conscious decision to steer away from quality and towards misinformation.”
Meta informed outlets in Australia that it might not renew their deals at the identical time the blog post went live to tell the tale Friday, The Guardian reported. The country’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, blasted Meta’s decision, telling reporters it was “not the Australian way.”
“We all know that it’s absolutely critical that media is in a position to function properly and be properly funded,” Albanese said. “Journalism is significant and the concept research and work done by others may be taken free is just untenable.”
“No one needs to be under any doubts in regards to the government’s resolve to be certain that we’ve a viable media industry on this country,” added Australia’s assistant treasurer Stephen Jones.
The move got here after Meta removed the News Tab in the UK, France, and Germany last yr. Meta said the changes would “not impact the terms under our existing Facebook News agreements with publishers in Australia, France, and Germany,” and that its deal within the US and UK had already expired.
Executive chairman Michael Miller of News Corp Australia – which shares a parent company with The Post – said he welcomed “the federal government’s support for the Australian media industry and its wholehearted commitment to upholding our laws and the News Media Bargaining Code.”
“Meta is using its immense market power to refuse to barter, and the federal government is correct to explore every option for a way the Media Bargaining Code’s powers may be used,” Miller said.
“Meta is attempting to mislead Australians by saying its decision is in regards to the closure of its news tab product, nevertheless the overwhelming majority of stories on Facebook and Meta is and can proceed to be consumed outside this product,” Miller added. “Meta’s decision will directly impact the viability of Australia’s many small and regional publishers and it is a pressing issue for the federal government to confront.”
“We are going to work in any way we will to help the processes the federal government is setting up.”
The Post has reached out to Meta for further comment.
Media outlets will still have access to their Facebook pages and Meta’s services will otherwise be unaffected, in accordance with the blog post. Which means users will find a way to view news articles inside the Facebook app.
But the corporate has been criticized for years by government officials who say it hasn’t properly compensated the media industry for the traffic generated by its news content.
A recent study said that in a conservative estimate, Facebook should pay news outlets nearly $2 billion per yr for his or her content based on its overall digital ad revenue, The Post reported last November. The identical study found that Google should pay anywhere from $10 billion to $12 billion annually.
In 2021, Facebook signed a series of publishing deals after Australia passed a law requiring tech firms to barter with publishers. The corporate temporarily pulled news content from its platform before returning to the negotiating table.
Last yr, Facebook discontinued the News Tab in Canada in response to an analogous law.
Meanwhile, within the US, Meta threatened to drag news content for Facebook and Instagram users in California last yr after the state advanced laws that will require “online platforms” to pay a “journalism usage fee” to outlets whose content appears on their sites.
Facebook has pulled back from news services because it faces a wave of presidency scrutiny over its business practices – including its failure to guard kids from online horrors starting from sexual exploitation to anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts.
The corporate has denied wrongdoing and touted various tools it has released to guard users.
The crisis led Sen. Lindsey Graham to declare at a high-profile Senate hearing earlier this yr that Zuckerberg has “blood on his hands.”
