Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it was going to start prioritizing local news sources in the US. In a blog today today, the company’s Head of News Product, Alex Hardiman, and Head of News Partnerships, Campbell Brown, said that the changes that were previously announced for the US are now available globally, in all languages. Facebook users around the world will soon be seeing more news sources locally.
The announcement doesn’t one as much of a surprise seeing as how Facebook has been bashed due to the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, in which the data company mined the Facebook profiles of over 50 million people without their consent. Facebook releasing some good news will hopefully take off some of the pressure that’s building on the company.
The company has been promoting “high quality, trusted” sources in order to combat fake news problems on its network. Though it remains to be seen if relying on more local news outlets is the answer that will help Facebook with these issues.