Meta is updating the Facebook News feature in three European countries, including the UK, starting this December.

The new policy will see Meta deprecate Facebook News, which is a dedicated tab for news content on the social media site, in the UK, France, and Germany, representing some of the largest parts of the European market.

According to the company, news makes up less than 3% of what people around the world see in their Facebook feed, and therefore represents only a small portion of their social media experience on the site.

This policy is simply getting rid of the specific news tab – news will still be available on the website from the Facebook Newsfeed, and news outlets and publications can still share their content on the site.

Further, Meta has said that it will maintain existing Facebook News deals and obligations with publishers in the UK, France, and Germany until they expires.

However, the company will not be entering into any new commercial deals for news content in these countries and do not expect to offer Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future.

The update is in contract to Meta’s recent changes in Canada, where new Canadian media laws insisted that Meta compensate publications for sharing their news content on their site.

Instead, Meta refused to share news on Canadian Facebook as they did not want to be liable for compensation. This led to outrage as wild fires raged across Canada’s northwest region, with many unaware of calls to evacuate as news of the fires on Facebook, one of the most widely used social media sites, was not shared.

This new European policy is less stringent, however, and is part of a realignment for the product and services Meta offers, the company insisted.

“As a company, we have to focus our time and resources on things people tell us they want to see more of on the platform, including short form video,” said a blog post concerning the new policy.

“We know that people don’t come to Facebook for news and political content – they come to connect with people and discover new opportunities, passions and interests.”

The current Facebook News functions as a current tab on a person’s Facebook profile where a user can select to see news exclusively.

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With the removal of this tab, it is yet to be seen if more news content will flood into the normal newsfeed of Facebook users as publishers try to maintain their revenue from Facebook clicks.

The removal of this tab also comes in conjunction with Meta cutting funding to the Community News Project in the UK, which was established in 2019 in collaboration with Sir Nick Clegg to introduce news reporting and journalism to underserved communities across the UK.

With funding, which amassed to £1.3bn, cut, journalists worry that around 100 jobs will be cut across community news organisations. Reporters’ current contracts will be honoured, according to the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), which handled the distribution of the funds.

At the time of its inception, the Community News Project helped Facebook undermine critiques of its affect on journalism and reporting, as it funded local communities while also profiting on the work of journalists posting their content on their news site.