Facebook News to Launch in India, Brazil, France, Germany, and the UK

On Tuesday, Facebook said it plans to launch its news service in India, Brazil, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, in next few months after introducing the feature in the United States last year. Facebook News is expected to launch in several countries over the next year. The social media giant also said it would pay news publishers to "make sure their content is available on the new product." A report also suggested that Facebook might not be the one launching the service in Australia.

In its announcement, Facebook said that by looking at the progress of the service in the United States since its launch, it plans to launch Facebook News in the countries mentioned above in the next six months to one year. Facebook's vice president of Global News Partnerships, Campbell Brown, said in the announcement that the company would pay news publishers in each country.

Facebook's news service currently pays US publishers for content and has original reports from more than 200 outlets, including thousands of local news organizations. Facebook will continue to "focus on growing engagement of Facebook News in the US." He said the company would remain committed to the partnerships it has developed with US publishers to make Facebook News a "valuable asset" in the long term.

In a report, Axios cited sources saying that Facebook may not launch Facebook News in Australia. The country announced in April that it would begin forcing Google and Facebook to pay news outlets for content, in a landmark move aimed at protecting traditional media from the digital dominance of tech giants. "What we want to see is a level playing field. What we want to see here is a fair opportunity for businesses and for the journalistic content that is being prepared," said Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

Facebook, which has 2.7 billion monthly active users, has come under fire for its negligent approach towards fake news reports and disinformation campaigns, which people believe affected the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, won by Donald Trump. Following the criticism, CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said the company would prioritize "trustworthy" news on its channel by identifying high-quality media.