Meta plans to remove Facebook News, a dedicated tab for news content, in the UK, France and Germany by the end of this year. This means that the product, which was first launched in 2019, will remain available only in the United States and Australia.

The change is part of Meta’s broader deprioritisation of news content, particularly as it invests more resources in promoting short-form video – as plainly highlighted by the announcement about Facebook News deprecation, which reminds that “news makes up less than 3% of what people around the world see in their Facebook feed”.

Unlike in Canada, news links will continue to be available in the main feed following the removal of the News tab. (In other news, Meta reportedly explores the possibility of paid ad-free access to Facebook and Instagram in Europe to address European Union regulatory concerns).

Every Friday the Russian government publishes a slate of new “foreign agents”, a designation designed to quell remaining free speech in the country by imposing cumbersome regulations on news organisations and individuals. Last week we saw one of the most high-profile additions to the list ever – Nobel-winning editor of Novaya Gazeta Dmitry Muratov.

Muratov said he would appeal the decision. He will temporarily (and, as the wording of the announcement hints, only formally) step down from his role while the court proceedings are underway.

Founded shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Novaya Gazeta had been one of the most high-profile independent investigative outlets in Russia for decades. In 2021 its chief editor Muratov was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize together with Maria Ressa, CEO of Filipino news outlet Rappler.

Novaya Gazeta suspended publication following the crackdown on free press in 2022, but members of its newsroom who remain in Russia – including Muratov – resumed journalistic work shortly after that. (Former Novaya Gazeta journalists who fled the country launched a separate outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe in exile).

Quick links — Three more news stories worth your attention:

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Facebook removing the News tab in Europe, Dmitry Muratov declared foreign agent by Russia – weekly news digest