Following its February 29th announcement, Meta will remove the Facebook News tab for users in the U.S. and Australia in early April. The removal of the Facebook News tab in the U.S. and Australia follows similar actions taken in Europe six months prior. Launching in 2019 for U.S. users and later expanding in Europe in 2020, the News tab was designed to keep users informed about current events.
Meta explained that Facebook’s News tab offered saved articles alongside curated news stories. However, in a recent post, it’s “focusing resources on things people tell us they value most,” which doesn’t include the News tab. This decision aligns with their ongoing efforts to optimize their product investments.
According to Meta, there had been relatively low engagement in 2023, with less than 3% of users interacting with the News tab. Further findings revealed an 80% decline in usage of the dedicated News tab by U.S. and Australian users in the previous year.
