Access to information and the fight against false information do not yet seem to be the priorities of Facebook. The American giant has decided to replace humans with algorithms to handle the processing of news content for its Facebook News service.
According to information from FigaroFacebook would have thus announced at the end of October to Media Services, which is in charge of the selection and prioritization of articles, the end of its contract as of January 1, 2023.
A dozen fixed-term contracts on the sidelines
Media Services, a subsidiary of AFP, was previously in charge of selecting articles from different media. The company had been chosen by Facebook to support the launch of its program in February 2022.
The service now allows you to find the essentials of daily news. The latter collects information from the general press, such as BFM TV, the parisian Where The world; sports media such as RMC Sport or The team as well as the regional press (Progress, Mountain, The Republican of Lorraineetc.)
The company that was in charge of managing this content will therefore have to get rid of more than a dozen employees with fixed-term contracts. These employees had been hired specifically for this mission.
Information in the background
“We regret that Facebook has chosen not to give more space to information, in particular through the visibility of its Facebook News service. The need for information remains stronger than ever and we expect strategic changes in the future,” said a spokesman. of the General News Press Alliance in the Figaro.
However, the implementation of these new algorithms should not take place before 2025. The commercial contracts between Facebook and the press publishers last until the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, Facebook prefers to focus on Mark Zuckerberg’s other priorities. On the one hand, the metaverse that occupies an increasingly important place in the galaxy of the American giant. On the other, the highlight of short videos to try to compete with TikTok.
Facebook’s news service in France is not the only one neglected by the group. According to the American press, Facebook would not like to extend its news service in the United States. The contracts with New York Times where he Washington Post it will stop noticeably at the end of the year.
Source: BFM TV
