In recent months, news sites have witnessed a significant decline in traffic, primarily due to the decrease in referral clicks from Facebook. The shift made by Facebook’s parent company, Meta, away from hard news content has taken a toll on media organizations. Media executives have reported a dip in traffic of up to 40% year-over-year as a result of Meta’s actions. One news publisher even remarked that “Facebook nuked everyone’s traffic.” CNN has reached out to Meta for comment on these claims.
Facebook made waves in 2021 when it announced changes to its algorithm, aiming to reduce political content on users’ news feeds. This decision was in response to mounting criticism about the social network’s role in fueling societal polarization and the spread of misinformation. Meta, the parent company, has gradually shifted its focus away from promoting hard news content, resulting in declining traffic numbers for publishers.
In 2018, Facebook revamped its “News Feed” to prioritize posts, photos, and videos from family and friends rather than content from publishers. The Financial Times recently reported that Meta has taken a firm stance against publishers and government officials who are pushing for the company to pay media organizations for their content.
Meta has also introduced a new micro-blogging app called Threads, which aims to compete with the news-heavy X (formerly known as Twitter). In the realm of Threads, the algorithm follows a similar pattern as Facebook and Instagram, prioritizing content from creators and friends over hard news and politics. This move further contributes to the decline in traffic for news organizations.
Furthermore, Meta has responded to government legislation in Canada by removing news content from Facebook and Instagram. This action follows the Canadian government’s requirement for tech companies to negotiate payments to news organizations for hosting their content. Similarly, Google has announced its intention to remove news content from its platforms in Canada when the law comes into effect, possibly as early as December.
Australia has also implemented a similar law that initially faced opposition from Meta and other tech giants. However, they have since reached agreements with publishers in the country. In California, a revenue-sharing bill was under consideration but was ultimately withdrawn due to opposition from tech companies.
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