Comment - Facebook News shows the platform is finally growing up
Facebook has been around for years now, so why is it difficult to define?
It’s so huge and powerful that it can feel like a government, yet its main interest is using your data to improve personalised advertising.
It hoovers up billions in spending but most of its services are free. Much of its content is trivial, yet it gives a platform to all sorts of extremists and nutcases - not least ahead of the insurrection at the US Capitol.
And then there’s the vexed and long-running question of whether it is a ‘publisher’ of news and should be responsible for content.
The truth is, it suits Facebook to be difficult to pigeonhole because it makes it hard to regulate, although many think that is coming.
Against this backdrop, the launch of Facebook News in the UK is a welcome step towards accountability and respectability.
The social media platform is paying to feature stories produced by a host of UK publishers - including JPIMedia which prints The Star.
The deal is a boost to an industry which has long complained of unfair terms, conditions and policies resulting from its dominance.
But perhaps more importantly it is Facebook recognising and supporting journalism.
Sir Nick Clegg, Facebook's communications chief, said: "It won't solve every issue news publishers face, or resolve all the tensions social media has created for the news industry. But it should create more value for publishers, and in doing so, help to sustain great national and local journalism."
For most, it’s not even a debate: journalism plays an essential role in the functioning of a free society and should be properly paid for.
Scrutiny, and the freedom to publish, helps keep citizens informed and prevents the powerful from forgetting who they serve. Yet it is expensive to produce.
This is not just news organisations moaning about losing market share.
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Authoritative journalism is a cornerstone of democracy and the antidote to dangerous misinformation.”
In November, the government announced a new competition regime to tackle ‘the fundamental imbalance of power’ between platforms and publishers.
The then business secretary, Alok Sharma, said: “The dominance of just a few big tech companies is leading to less innovation, higher advertising prices and less choice and control for consumers.”