Facebook to Start Paying UK News Publishers for Content in 2021

Facebook has been accused of many things, but one thing in particular that the social media platform has found itself being accused of has to do with news publishers and the various kinds of content that they end up creating. These publishers accuse Facebook of stealing their content in some way, shape or form, and this is the sort of controversy that could spell some real trouble for the social media platform and as a result of the fact that this is the case Facebook has decided to lean heavily into the news industry.

It has done this by launching a dedicated tab made for such content by the name of Facebook News. This is also partly being done because of the fact that Facebook wants to be able to compete with Google in this regard, something that would be facilitated by having a dedicated news tab. One thing that makes this especially important is that when Facebook launches its news tab in the UK in 2021, it will start paying UK based publishers for their content as well which is a really important aspect of creating a sustainable infrastructure for these organizations to rely on.

Quite a few people already get most of their news from Facebook, so a news tab is most likely going to end up being really popular and will help de-clutter the timelines of various users that might be out there at any given point in time. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that some are criticizing the direction this might take the industry in, claiming that it would create a system wherein news publishers would be even more incentivized to take advantage of social media algorithms and this could lead to a marked increase in sensationalism in the industry.

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