has announced that it will shut down its Facebook
News tab
in the
United States
and
Australia
in early April,
ending
licensing deals with major news publishers in those countries.
The move comes after Facebook News was discontinued in the UK, France, and Germany last year as part of
Meta
's shift away from news and toward products like short-form videos that better align with user engagement.
Facebook News debuted in the US in 2019 after signing deals worth millions of dollars annually with publishers like the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and CNN. The news tab was designed to highlight top stories and bring users more news content.
However, Meta said that Facebook News usage has dropped more than 80% in the past year as people visit the platform primarily to connect with friends and family.
Australian publisher deals ending after 2021 regulatory fight
The loss of Facebook News will have significant financial implications for Australian publishers who signed lucrative three-year deals in 2021 worth $70 million annually.
Those deals were struck after months of tensions between Facebook and the Australian government over proposed legislation requiring tech platforms to pay news outlets for content.
With the deals now expiring, Australian publishers will lose a key revenue stream as Facebook exits the news business in the country.
Meta phasing out of news business, shifting focus to video
The wind-down of Facebook News underscores Meta's strategic shift away from news distribution to focus resources on short-form, entertainment, and video content instead.
As Facebook usage evolves, Meta cited data showing news makes up less than 3% of the average user's feed. The company will reallocate resources to video products like Reels that increase engagement.
“People will still be able to view news on Facebook in feed in these countries, and publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and pages, where they can post their news article links and content,” Meta said in the blog post.
While publishers and users can still share links to news articles, Meta said it won't enter new licensing deals or create other news products for publishers moving forward. So, Facebook's direct investment in publisher content will soon be no more.
English (US) ·