Often singled out for spreading false information, Facebook is launching Facebook News, a news feed powered by real media. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to fight against fake news…
“It’s true, I read it on Facebook!” This sentence often lends to smile so much false information circulates on the social network. It may now be necessary to be wary before laughing. Since Tuesday, February 15, Facebook has indeed started to deploy Facebook News in France. This is a newsfeed nestled in a tab of the service interface. Already available in the United States, Germany, England and Australia, Facebook News intends to consolidate information from verified sources. This mainly concerns journalistic content from national media such as Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France, Le Figaro, Les Échos, Le Journal du dimanche, Liberation, L’Express, Capital, Femme Actuelle, L’Équipe or the regional press with Le Progrès, L’Alsace, Nice-Matin, or even La Voix du Nord and even the audiovisual press with BFM-TV and RMC. To obtain this content, Facebook will pay press publishers for two years.
Available both on mobile apps for iOS and Android and on the web version which is used with a simple browser, Facebook News is housed in a special tab. It has two sections. One devoted to the news of the day, the other dealing with subjects close to the centers of interest of the user. Please note, however, that it will not be possible to read an article directly on Facebook. The newsfeed is limited to displaying the titles of articles associated with an image. By clicking on it, the reader is redirected to the website of the media offering it. It is therefore impossible to read for free on Facebook an article normally paid for on the publisher’s website. It remains to be seen whether the fact of leaving Facebook to get information does not present a barrier to reading and will be enough to fight against misinformation.
When will Facebook News be available?
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, started rolling out Facebook News in France on Tuesday, February 15. At the moment, only a few users can enjoy it. The firm indicates that, by May 2022, all Facebook users in France will be able to benefit from it. So check regularly for updates to the Facebook app on your smartphone and the web version available in your browser, as the rollout seems very gradual.