Facebook owner Meta has refused to continue paying for news in Australia, announcing it will end its deals with local publishers when they expire this year in a decision that news companies say blatantly ignores the value of their journalism.
The government also blasted the move, describing it as “a dereliction of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media.”
The tech behemoth confirmed today it won’t renew its deals with news organisations in Australia and also said it will remove its Facebook News tab next month.
Meta has signed a number of contracts with Australian media companies amid a newly introduced government code, the News Media Bargaining Code, including with Nine, the publisher of this website.
Should the government ‘designate’ Meta as a digital platform subject to the code, it would be forced into arbitration, and face the possibility of fines if it does not compensate news publishers.
“Meta’s decision does not recognise the significant and increasing value of Nine’s journalism, unique content and brands to its platforms,” Nine CEO Mike Sneesby said.
“We believe the News Media Bargaining Code provides an appropriate framework for a fair value exchange between companies.
“Regardless of the Meta announcement today, the value created on their platform from the use of Nine’s IP is both unquestionable and growing and we strongly believe Meta should negotiate in good faith around the fair compensation for that value exchange.
“We will continue to robustly advocate that these deals are in the national interest and the arguments that led to the code in the first place remains as strong as ever.”
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland strongly criticised the decision in a joint statement.
“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 government has made its expectations clear,” they said.
“The decision removes a significant source of revenue for Australian news media businesses. Australian news publishers deserve fair compensation for the content they provide.
Seven boss James Warburton called for Meta to be designated under the code.
“The case has not only been made but proven and we welcome Ministers Jones and Rowland’s commitment to the News Media Bargaining Code. We will work constructively with the ACCC and Treasury to ensure their designation.”
The move will still allow news content to be posted to Meta, but publishers will no longer be compensated for the content that they create when it is used on the platform.
In a statement, Meta claimed users were not using their social media product to access news.
“This is part of an ongoing effort to better align our investments to our products and services people value the most,” Meta’s statement read.
“We know that people don’t come to Facebook for news and political content – they come to connect with people.”
Facebook signed its deals with dozens of news organisations in 2021 so to avoid being “designated” and forced to negotiate with publishers under the government’s media bargaining code.
That came after it attempted to pressure the government in February of that year by banning all publisher pages from Facebook – a move that also saw the profiles of emergency services and other non-publishers inadvertently removed from the platform.
The ban was ended and pages reinstated after a few days.
A ban on all news content is currently in place on Facebook in Canada, in a stand-off stretching back to midway through last year over a similar attempt by the Canadian government to force internet giants to pay publishers for their news.
Meta last month reported that profit from the three months ended in December grew more than 200 per cent year-over-year to US$14 billion, exceeding Wall Street analysts’ expectations. Sales from the quarter grew 25 per cent from the year-ago period to more than $40 billion.
Fellow internet giant Google also signed deals with Australian publishers.
