Meta ending Facebook News tab in US, Australia

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said Thursday that it will wind down the Facebook News tab in the United States and Australia starting in early April.

The decision to get rid of Facebook News, a dedicated tab on the platform that spotlights news coverage, comes as part of an effort to “better align our investments to our products and services people value the most,” Meta said in a blog post. 

“As a company, we have to focus our time and resources on things people tell us they want to see more of on the platform,” the social media giant said.

“We know that people don’t come to Facebook for news and political content — they come to connect with people and discover new opportunities, passions and interests,” it added.

Meta similarly discontinued the Facebook News tab in the United Kingdom, France and Germany late last year.

The company emphasized on Thursday that Facebook users will still be able to find news on the platform.

“People will still be able to view links to news articles on Facebook,” Meta said. “News publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages, where they can post links to their stories and direct people to their websites, in the same way any other individual or organization can.”

Earlier this month, Instagram announced that it would no longer proactively recommend content about politics on both Instagram and Threads, following similar efforts to limit the amount of political content on Facebook.