Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is planning to stop compensating news publishers for using their content in Australia as part of its new commercial strategies.
Australia was the first country to introduce legislation — the News Media Bargaining Code — obliging the tech conglomerate to pay news publishers for using their content on its social media platform. The legislation paved way for other leading markets to come up with similar laws for tech giants, primarily Meta and Google.
In a recent development, however, Meta has announced it will “not enter into new commercial deals for traditional news” in Australia and other markets such as France and Germany.
“In early April 2024, we will deprecate Facebook News – a dedicated tab in the bookmarks section on Facebook that spotlights news – in the US and Australia,” Meta says in a blog post. “This follows our September 2023 announcement that we deprecated Facebook News in the UK, France and Germany last year.”
The company says users will still be able to view and access news on Facebook in their “Feed”, adding that publishers will continue to have access to their respective Facebook pages and accounts, where links to their news articles can be posted.
Meta claims that the number of people using Facebook for news content in Australia and the United States (US) has dropped by 80 per cent over the last year. People do not visit Facebook for news and political content, but to connect with people and to seek new opportunities and interests, the Facebook owner says.
News content constitutes less than 3 per cent of what people view in their Feed around the world, says Meta, adding that it is a “small part of the Facebook experience” for the majority of users.
According to Meta, the development will not impact the company’s existing with Facebook News agreements in Australia, France, and Germany, and that such deals in the UK and US have already expired.
“Additionally, to ensure that we continue to invest in products and services that drive user engagement, 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 in the future,” the company says.
The development has drawn a strong response from Australian communications authorities, which say that Meta’s action is “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,” reads a joint statement from Australia’s communications minister. “Australian news publishers deserve fair compensation for the content they provide.”
The news compensation law, which was brought in 2021, had created a rift between the Australian government and Meta, following which Meta temporarily suspended links to news articles in the country. After a series of negotiations and amendments to the law, Meta restored news on Facebook in Australia.
The statement adds the Australian government with seek advice from the Department and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on how to proceed in this regard.
