Facebook launches news feed in UK

Facebook is launching its news section Facebook News in the UK on Tuesday, which provides paid press articles to publishers.

The United Kingdom thus becomes the second country to benefit from this service, launched at the end of 2019 in the United States with the desire to promote journalism and to shed its reputation for disinformation.

Facebook News is "a multi-year investment that will allow true journalism to reach new audiences, while offering publishers more advertising opportunities and subscriptions," said Jesper Doub, Director of Partnerships Europe at Facebook, quoted in a statement.

Publishers will now be paid for content that is not already on the platform.

Among the British media that have accepted Facebook's offer are the daily newspapers The Guardian and the Financial Times, the weekly The Economist, the tabloids The Mirror and the Daily mail, but also the magazines Glamor and Vogue, as well as the Sky News and Channel 4.

Facebook News, which can be personalized by users, aims to "bring 'them closer' to stories that impact their lives and the community around them," said Jesper Doub.

This launch comes in the midst of a crisis for the press, faced with a fall in advertising revenue - the majority of which is captured by the digital giants - and physical sales with the rise of online content, often available for free. This situation is amplified by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In November, the American giant Google signed agreements with French newspapers to remunerate the use of their content, a world first falling within the framework of European legislation on neighboring rights.

"Active negotiations" are also underway to launch Facebook news in France and Germany, the American giant of social networks said in early December.