Facebook France and L'Alliance de la presse de l'information partner to strengthen the news experience for people and publishers in France

Today, we are announcing a partnership with l’Alliance de la presse d'information générale (Alliance) in France: a multi-faceted collaboration that marks our agreement on the licensing of Neighbouring Rights, and will separately see us launch Facebook News in January 2022. After constructive negotiations, this solution will further our investment in the news industry, and strengthen the news experience for both people and publishers on Facebook.

Since the introduction of France’s Copyright law in October 2019, we have worked closely with Alliance over two years, to establish a framework that meets the requirements of this new publisher right and reflects the unique way news content is posted and shared on Facebook - whether from people or publishers at their own discretion. This has not been a quick process, but one that has been conducted with careful consideration.

As a result of these positive discussions, we are now pleased to have settled on a licensing agreement for Neighbouring Rights. This means that people on Facebook will be able to continue uploading and sharing news stories freely amongst their communities, whilst also ensuring that the copyright of our publishing partners is protected.

To strengthen this news offering further, our partnership will also see Alliance publications, who wish to do so, feature within Facebook News, when we launch the product in France in January 2022. Launching Facebook News in France has been a long-standing goal of ours, in a country that boasts a broad and highly engaged digital news ecosystem. This will give people a dedicated space to access content from trusted and reputable news sources.

Pierre Louette, chairman of Alliance de la presse d’information générale and CEO of Groupe Les Echos – Le Parisien, said: “I am very pleased to reach this agreement, which is the result of an outspoken and fruitful dialogue between publishers and a leading digital platform. The terms we came up with will allow Facebook to implement the directive and French law, while generating significant funding for Alliance publishers – notably the smallest ones. This first step in the concrete implementation of neighboring rights shows that solidarity between publishers is key to efficiently defend their interests.”

We believe that continued collaboration is the best path forward for both publishers and platforms - especially for the many people who now prefer to consume news online. Our constructive dialogue with Alliance and the industry in France, is testament to what we can achieve when working together on a solution that fairly considers the value of an increasingly digital news landscape and the role Facebook can play in it.

Our existing tools and services give news organisations free access to an audience of 3.45 billion, and provide additional ways to increase revenue and drive people back to their own sites. In 2020, Facebook News Feed sent over 180 billion clicks to news publishers - additional free traffic worth about $9 billion (US) in estimated value.

We also continue to invest directly. Since 2018, we have spent a total of $600 million to support media companies. Over the next three years, we will invest at least another billion dollars. This is alongside the local initiatives we will continue to roll out to support publishers, such as our accelerator programs, which help local publishers further develop strategies for digital payment models.

Our partnership with Alliance proves the benefits of a strong collaboration. Likewise, we’ve been encouraged by the progress that’s been made elsewhere in Europe, and we hope for continued, constructive conversations. Only a few months ago we launched Facebook News in Germany, alongside new partners including Axel Springer, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Handelsblatt and Tagesspiegel. In the U.K., we entered into agreements with several publishers, including Conde Nast, The Economist, Guardian Media Group and Hearst.

We want trusted, reputable and informative news on Facebook. And we want to create an environment that fosters innovation for the businesses and partners that use it.