Facebook’s parent company, Meta, stated on Friday (March 1) that it will stop paying news publishers in Australia for content that appears on Facebook.
This move has sparked a new struggle with Canberra, which was ahead of other countries in enacting legislation requiring social media platforms to seek licensing deals.
News publishers, as well as governments in countries such as Australia, have alleged that social media behemoths like Facebook and Google unfairly profit from connections to news items that appear on their platforms.
Following these conversations, Meta has reduced its advertising of both news and political content, claiming that news links are now only available in a small percentage of users’ feeds.
Meta has stated that it would remove the tab that promotes news on Facebook in Australia and the United States. According to the statement, the platform removed the news tab in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany last year.
As a result, “we will not enter into new commercial deals for traditional news content in these countries and will not offer new Facebook products specifically for news publishers”, Meta said in the statement.
Meta vs. Australian Government
Meta’s decision has set the corporation against the Australian government, which, according to a 2021 law opposed by the social media giant, has the right to select a mediator who decides how much big tech firms pay for the news links.
In a joint statement, Australia’s Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said, “Meta’s decision to no longer pay for news content in a number of jurisdictions represents a dereliction of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media.”
“The decision removes a significant source of revenue for Australian news media businesses. Australian news publishers deserve fair compensation for the content they provide,” Rowland added.
She stated that the government will “work through all available options” to resolve the concerns, in collaboration with the country’s communications authority.
The government was “committed to promoting a strong, sustainable and diverse media sector given its vital importance to our democracy and social cohesion”, the minister said.
Meanwhile, the country’s largest media outlets condemned the decision as an attack on the business.
According to News Corp Australasia Executive Chairman Michael Miller, “Meta is using its immense market power to refuse to negotiate, and the government is right to explore every option for how the Media Bargaining Code’s powers can be used.”