Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has declared a halt to new agreements with traditional news outlets in Australia, France, and Germany. Moreover, they will not introduce any new features specifically for news publishers on Facebook in the future. The discontinuation of the Facebook News section is set to commence in the US and Australia in early April, following its removal in the UK, France, and Germany last year.
Despite this, users in these countries will still have access to news articles in their Facebook feeds as usual, and news publishers will retain access to their accounts and Pages to share content.
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Existing agreements with news publishers in Australia, France, and Germany will remain in effect until their expiration. The decision follows a significant decline in Facebook News usage, with over an 80% drop in users reported last year in Australia and the US. Meta underscores that news content comprises less than 3% of what users see on Facebook globally.
Despite the change, news organizations can utilize other Facebook features such as Reels and the ads system to reach broader audiences and drive traffic to their websites. They will also retain all revenue generated from outbound links on Facebook. This shift signifies Meta’s strategy to adapt its approach to news content distribution while providing continued opportunities for news publishers to engage with audiences and monetize their content effectively.
