Canberra criticizes Meta's decision as an “abandonment of its commitment to the sustainability” of the media industry.
Facebook's parent company Meta has announced it will no longer enter into deals to pay news publishers in Australia, prompting condemnation from the government and media industry.
To ensure Meta can “continue to invest in products and services that drive user engagement,” the company will not renew its funding deals with traditional news content and “will not offer new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future.” “said the technology. the giant said in a blog post on Friday.
Meta said the move would not affect existing agreements with publishers until they expire.
Meta said it will also close its news tab in Australia and the United States in April, following the withdrawal of the feature last year in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
The California-based company said it was making changes to “better align our investments with our products and services that people value most.”
“As a company, we need to focus our time and resources on things that people tell us they want to see more of on the platform, including short videos,” he said.
“The number of people using Facebook News in Australia and the United States fell by more than 80 per cent last year. We know that people don't come to Facebook for news and political content: they come to connect with people and discover new opportunities, passions and interests.”
Meta signed deals with numerous traditional media outlets after Australia passed landmark legislation in 2021 requiring tech platforms to pay for news content shared on their platforms.
The introduction of the News Media Bargaining Code, which has been emulated in other jurisdictions including Canada, came following accusations that platforms such as Facebook and Google exploited free news content to hoard valuable advertising revenue from news organizations in difficulties.
Meta's announcement was immediately criticized by the Australian government.
Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Deputy Treasurer and Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones called Meta's decision an “abandonment of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian media.”
“The Government has made its expectations clear. The decision eliminates a major source of revenue for Australian media companies. “Australian news publishers deserve fair compensation for the content they provide,” Rowland and Jones said in a joint statement.
Rowland and Jones said they would seek advice on next steps from Treasury and Australia's competition watchdog.
“We will now look at all the options available under the News Media Bargaining Code. “The government will continue to engage with publishers and news platforms through this process,” Rowland and Jones said.
Does @Goal Do you care at all about journalism? Facebook should compensate news organizations for making money from their journalism; If you don't do it voluntarily, the government should use the powers it has to force you to do it. #MEAAmedia
— MEAA (@conMEAA) March 1, 2024
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Australia's largest journalists' union, questioned whether Meta cares about journalism.
“Facebook should compensate news organizations for making money from their journalism; if they don't do this voluntarily, the government should use the powers it has to force them to do so,” the union said in a post on X.
