Facebook News just launched in the US and it is a News tab dedicated to providing high quality and trustworthy information.
This new update will make it easier for users to skim through their daily news update and filter it specifically to what they are interested in.
Introducing Facebook News – a dedicated news tab starting to roll out today in the US pic.twitter.com/Mrkx6CGWaq
— Facebook (@facebook) October 25, 2019
A new tab is now added to the top navigation bar which takes the user to its News content listing. They will then be able to view Top stories and choose different categories to view like business, sports, entertainment, and more.
Users will also be able to select content from publishers they like and subscribe to them or even hide them from their feed if they are not interested at all. Some approved publishers on the list include Buzzfeed and The Wall Street Journal.
The list of publishers in the News Tab have to register as news pages and follow the company’s publisher guidelines to be able to provide content. They should also be trustworthy and wary of publishing misleading information. ‘
“Pages that repeatedly share misinformation are not be eligible to register as news Pages,” Facebook said. “ If our fact-checking partners find a registered news Page to be repeatedly sharing misinformation, registration for that Page may be revoked.”
In the aftermath of announcing this update, Facebook has been receiving some criticism from the news industry for being bias and not compensating publishers.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg , however, took to the stage to defend the case for Facebook News.
“I just think that every internet platform has a responsibility to try to fund and form partnerships to help news.” He said.
The 35-year-old also commented on Facebook’s current relationship with publishers and said that they will be paying them for ad revenue.
“(It is) the first time we’re forming long-term, stable relationships and partnerships with a lot of publishers.” Zuckerberg added.
For the time being, Facebook News is still only being tested in the US and there is no confirmation as to when it will become available worldwide.
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