Facebook is making a bold move by announcing the discontinuation of its news tab in the United States and Australia. The company, formally known as Meta, is choosing to distance itself from the complexities surrounding news media regulations and payments. This decision comes as no surprise as Meta has already removed the news tab from its platform in the UK, Germany, and France last year, citing a desire to prioritize resources to the most valuable products and services.
In a statement released today, Meta explained that the news tab will be sunsetted by April 2024. The company also revealed that the usage of Facebook News in Australia and the U.S. has drastically decreased by 80% in the past year. This decrease in usage is a key factor in their decision to sunset the news tab, as they strive to align their investments with the products and services that are most important to their users. Meta emphasized the shift towards short-form videos as a priority for the company.
Previously, Meta announced that news content only makes up 3% of the content seen on the Facebook feed. Therefore, it is likely that the removal of the news tab will not have a significant impact on users. This is further supported by the fact that publishers have observed a decline in referral traffic from Facebook over the years.
The shutdown of Facebook News can be attributed to both regulatory moves and Meta’s decision to withdraw from investing in new news products. In countries like Australia and Canada, legislation has been passed that requires platforms to pay online publishers for their content. Last year, Meta began blocking news links for Canadian users, and these regulatory actions have influenced the company’s decision.
In their announcement, Meta clarified that this decision does not affect any current deals they have with publishers, and these deals will remain in place until they expire. Additionally, in Australia and the U.S., users will still be able to share news on their feeds, and publishers will maintain the ability to manage their pages and post links. However, Meta made it clear that they have no plans to invest in new news-related products.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, also echoed Meta’s decision to pull back from news-related efforts. Last year, Mosseri stated that the company has no intention of featuring news on Threads, its newly launched social network.
