As nations are now looking to have some oversight over some of the biggest social media platforms, Facebook in the United Kingdom will pay mainstream UK news outlets millions of pounds a year to license their articles.
The social network now faces the threat of a government crackdown over its dominance of online advertising that has caused damage to many legitimate news outlets that actually source stories.
As most newspapers have gone online and the sale of paper has come down, almost all British newspaper groups have signed up to the programme.
This way their articles will appear in a dedicated news section on the site and that is due to launch in January.
News that are on Facebook comes through links shared on a user’s main newsfeed and now a dedicated news tab will involve employees of the social network to select what they consider to be the main stories of the day from mainstream outlets.
In return, publishers will receive substantial cash sums and the promise of new readers.
Facebook declined to comment on the amount of money it is putting into the scheme. However, some publishers are privately expecting to make millions of pounds a year as they would probably sign the multi-year deals with the social network.
This would result in Facebook paying tens of millions in the UK alone many of struggling news outlets.
“It’s an extremely large investment and it’s something we’ve done over multiple years,” said Sarah Brown, Facebook’s head of news partnerships in northern Europe, was quoted saying in a report.
She said the curators would prioritise checks and balances associated with original reporting when choosing which stories to highlight: “Is it deeply sourced reporting, is it timely, is it offering an interesting angle, is it well sourced?”
Some of the biggest outlets that will partner with Facebook will include the Guardian, the Daily Mirror, the Independent, and major regional news publishers, and magazines such as The Economist.
However, Rupert Murdoch’s News UK and Daily Mail owner DMGT are yet to sign up.
Because of Facebook news outlets lost huge chunks in the UK advertising market. Also, in the UK Parliament, The Online Harms Bill has also been introduced. Facebook is also facing intervention from other governments over its dominance.