【Watch Passenger 69 XXX】

You might not know it,Watch Passenger 69 XXX but Facebook's not done with breaking news.

The company is rolling out its "breaking news" labels to publishers in Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the UK, and will start testing the labels in Europe and Asia. The feature was previously only widely-available in the United States and Canada.

The labels allow publishers to append "breaking news" labels to a limited number of stories -- one per day, though most publishers only use them about once a week, according to Facebook.

"We've seen that breaking news posts about politics, crime, disaster, and business perform best. We're using data like this to help publishers understand how to use the label to connect people with the breaking news that they need to see most," writes Facebook product manager Joey Rhyu.

The social network first began testing the breaking news labels about a year ago. Back then, one of the main questions was whether the breaking news label would affect a particular post's ranking in the News Feed. At the time, Facebook said it wouldn't, but acknowledged that could change.

Now, a Facebook spokesperson tells me that it considers the "breaking news" tag an indication of "timeliness," which is one factor Facebook considers in determining where any given post should fall in your News Feed.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

This shows that Facebook is still trying to find a way to show its users newsworthy information in a timely manner -- something that Facebook's News Feed, which often surfaces days-old posts, has never been great at.

Facebook has a messy history with breaking news. The company introduced its now infamous "trending" section in 2014, which displayed popular news stories on the platform. Originally, these stories were curated by a group of human editors who selected which articles would appear for any given news story.

But that effort, which was largely run by contractors employed by Facebook, came under fire in 2016 when Gizmodo reported that the contractors regularly "suppressed" conservatives. The story resulted in a major backlash against Facebook, with conservative politicians saying it was proof the social network was biased against conservatives.

Much ink has been spilled about the ensuing controversy, which I won't rehash here, but Facebook promptly got rid of its human editors and opted to let its algorithms determine which topics and stories should appear in the "trending" section. But, even with human editors out of the picture, the trending section was still a bit of a disaster. The section still managed to amplify conspiracy theories and "news" from questionable sources.

So it was a relief to many when Facebook announced earlier this year that it would kill the "trending" section for good, which brings us back to breaking news.

With the ill-fated "trending" section gone for good, and publishers still wary of Facebook's commitment in the wake of bigger News Feed shakeups, the "breaking news" labels are a chance for publishers to still get some of their most important stories in front of readers on Facebook.

UPDATE: Nov. 2, 2018, 12:19 p.m. PDT Clarified the number of times publishers can use "breaking news" labels.

---

Featured Video For You

---

This bike path paves the way for future roads made from recycled plastic — Genius Moments

---

Topics Facebook Social Media

• Entertainment
• Life
• Tech
• Games
• Digital Culture
• Deals
• Shopping
• Science

• Antifascism and the Left’s Fear of Power
• Lois Lane and beyond: Remembering Margot Kidder
• Elaine proposes to Jerry in genuinely good 'Seinfeld' parody
• Yanny or Laurel? According to Google, it's Laurel.
• Man Out of Time
• Google pausing Chrome 66 autoplay blocker after developer complaints
• Tim Cook remembers Steve Jobs in heartfelt commencement speech
• Japanese railway company apologises for train leaving 25 seconds early
• The Pizzagate Polity
• Since the launch of Amazon's Alexa, the name has become less popular

• Neil Gaiman claims Goodreads account was hacked to diss Amanda Palmer
• Apple's new ad takes us to a New Orleans barber shop — with one familiar guest
• 2 hidden details in 'The Office' you've probably never noticed
• White House refuses to deny Trump has recording devices and this is nothing like Nixon, not at all
• Why it’s chilly in parts of U.S. while the world cooks
• Rumor has it that a new Apple TV is 'ready to ship'
• Hillary Clinton is back and wants you to 'resist'
• 8 executive orders Trump would sign if an aide forwarded him chain letters from my grandmother
• Apple to begin reopening U.S. stores this month
• Experts poke holes in claims that fidget spinners can treat ADHD

• No Really, You Don’t Need a Weatherman
• Elaine proposes to Jerry in genuinely good 'Seinfeld' parody
• Japanese railway company apologises for train leaving 25 seconds early
• Air conditioner use will triple worldwide by 2050, new report suggests
• Maneka’s Punk Pulpit
• Elaine proposes to Jerry in genuinely good 'Seinfeld' parody
• Man slowly tumbles into river in undeniably hilarious footage
• NES Classics are coming back to stores in June
• #churchtoo
• 'Deadpool 2' tries to have it both ways: Review

• Malls and movies and drones, oh my.
• The stigma against oatmeal raisin cookies must end
• Don't let new 'Efail' vulnerability put your encrypted mail at risk
• New Captain America meme wants to talk to you about your questionable life decisions
• Kanye Unbound
• Astronaut snaps photo of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupting from space
• Man gets hilarious response after pitching astroturfed window boxes to garden show
• Read an exclusive excerpt of Markus Zusak's new novel 'Bridge of Clay'
• Between Oligarchy and Democracy
• Lois Lane and beyond: Remembering Margot Kidder