Meta Expands ‘Facebook News Tab’ and Forges Future Content Partnerships with Media Companies
Tech giant is poised for a major clash with the Australian government.
Meta is set to cut its Facebook News tab in April and will not renew commercial deals with traditional media outlets.
The company aims to prioritize products that it believes are valued most by people, as the number of users accessing Facebook News in Australia and the United States has dropped by 80 percent in a year.
“As we previously shared in 2023, news makes up less than 3 percent of what people around the world see in their Facebook feed, and is a small part of the Facebook experience for the vast majority of people.”
Facebook will not engage in new commercial deals for traditional news content or introduce new products specifically for media outlets in the future.
However, existing Facebook News agreements with publishers in Australia, France, and Germany will remain unaffected by this decision. These agreements have already expired in the United States and the UK.
Related Stories
“To ensure that we continue to invest in products and services that drive user engagement, we will not engage in new commercial deals for traditional news content in these countries and will not introduce new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future,” Facebook stated.
Facebook clarified that the community can still access news article links on Facebook, and news outlets can continue to share links to their stories on their accounts.
“News organizations can also utilize products like Reels and our ads system to reach wider audiences and direct people to their websites, where they retain 100 percent of the revenue from outbound links on Facebook,” Facebook added.
Australian Government Considers it a ‘Dereliction’ of its Commitments
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones expressed concerns about Meta’s decision in a statement on Feb. 29.
The decision eliminates a significant revenue source for Australian news media businesses.
In 2021, Facebook engaged in challenging negotiations with the Australian Liberal-National government regarding a controversial law (the News Media Bargaining Code) that aimed to compel the tech giant to pay publishers for content, leading to the company shutting down news content on its platform across the country for several days.
The company later agreed to introduce the Facebook News service as a form of compensating news outlets (outside of using the Code).
However, with this latest decision, Meta has essentially stepped back from compensating news companies, prompting the current Labor government to seek advice from the Treasury Department and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on how to address this move.
“We will explore all available options under the News Media Bargaining Code. The government will continue to engage with news publishers and platforms throughout this process,” the government assured.
“The Albanese government is dedicated to fostering a robust, sustainable, and diverse media sector given its crucial role in our democracy and social harmony.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed concerns about the developments.
“We understand the critical importance of a properly functioning and adequately funded media. Journalism is essential, and the notion that the work done by others can be taken for free is simply unacceptable,” he told The Australian newspaper on March 1.
Facebook Highlights its ‘Largest Global Fact-Checking Network’
Meta mentioned that it has created the largest global network of fact-checkers across any platform through collaborations with over 90 independent fact-checking organizations worldwide.
These third-party “fact checkers” are accredited by bodies such as the non-partisan international fact-checking network, which assesses and rates “viral misinformation” on platforms.
“Since 2016, we have contributed over $150 million to programs supporting our fact-checking efforts to combat the spread of misinformation, and we will continue to invest in this area,” Facebook stated.
Meta emphasized its commitment to connecting people with reliable information on its platforms.
