Meta will eliminate Facebook News feature in part of Europe – 9/5/2023 – Tech

Meta said on Tuesday it would remove the “Facebook News” feature on its social media app in the UK, France and Germany later this year.

Users will be able to see a preview of links to news articles, and European news sites will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and pages after the change is implemented in December, the company said.

However, Facebook will not enter into new commercial agreements for news content on “Facebook News”, nor will it offer product innovations to news publishers in these countries.

“Facebook News”, which curates a news feed, is a dedicated tab in the bookmarks section of the Facebook app.

“News accounts for less than 3% of what people around the world see in their Facebook feed, so news discovery is a small part of the Facebook experience for the vast majority of people,” Meta said.

Along with Alphabet, the company is under increasing pressure from parliamentarians around the world to share a greater percentage of its advertising revenue with news outlets.

Meta has started blocking news on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for all users in Canada in response to a new law requiring internet giants to pay news sites. Australia implemented a similar law in 2021.