Facebook has signed deals with German media to provide content for a local news product, but the publisher of the country's best-selling newspaper said it would not be involved in the deal, which it described as ludicrous, AP reported.

Facebook News, described as a specialized site for journalistic content, will include coverage from the weekly Die Zeit and Der Spiegel, as well as the daily newspapers Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Handelsblatt, and Tagesspiegel.

But Axel Springer said it would not join the deal. 

According to the company's spokesperson, attempts by some platforms, on the one hand, to position themselves as media, and on the other hand, to force publishers to provide content for inadequate remuneration is problematic.

Axel Springer said it prefers to rely on European copyright rules, which allow all publishers to receive an appropriate share of the remuneration.