As Meta scales back content, Facebook News tab will soon be unavailable

Meta will be doing away with Facebook News in early April for users in the US and Australia as the platform further deemphasises news and politics. The feature was shut down in the UK, France and Germany last year. Launched in 2019, the News tab curated headlines from national and international news organisations, as well as smaller, local publications. The change comes as Meta tries to scale back news and political content on its platforms following years of criticism.

The News tab debuted in 2019, and consolidated headlines from myriad national and international media outlets along with smaller local publications for effortless access by users.

Amidst this, Meta assures users they will retain their ability to follow links to news articles. Furthermore, news agencies can continue posting and publicizing their stories or websites akin to any other individual or establishment on Facebook.

"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," Dani Lever, a Meta spokesperson, said. "This announcement expands on years of work on how we approach and treat political content based on what people have told us they wanted."

Meta said the change to the News tab does not affect its fact-checking network and review of