Meta will be sunsetting
Launched in 2019, the News tab curated headlines from national and international news organizations, as well as smaller, local publications.
Meta says users will still be able to view links to news articles, and news organizations will still be able to post and promote their stories and websites, as any other individual or organization can on Facebook.
The change comes as Meta tries to scale back news and political content on its platforms following years of criticism about how it handles misinformation and whether it contributes to political polarization.
“This change does not impact posts from accounts people choose to follow; it impacts what the system recommends, and people can control if they want more,” said
Meta said the change to the News tab does not affect its fact-checking network and review of misinformation.
But misinformation remains a challenge for the company, especially as the
“Facebook didn’t envision itself as a political platform. It was run by tech people. And then suddenly it started scaling and they found themselves immersed in politics, and they themselves became the headline,” said
“I would say if you’ve been watching, you could see this coming, but it’s one more very hurtful thing to the business of news,” Edmonds said.
News makes up less than 3% of what users worldwide see in their
However, according to a 2023
Three in 10 U.S. adults say they regularly get news from
Instagram users recently expressed dissatisfaction with the app's choice to stop “proactively” recommending political content posted on accounts that users don’t follow. While the option to turn off the filter was always available in user settings, many people were not aware Meta made the change.
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