Meta May Block News on Facebook in Australia

A corporate spokesperson told a parliamentary committee on Friday that Facebook owner Meta may ban Australian news content if the government requires licensing payments

When asked whether Meta would prevent Australians from spreading news content to avoid paying fees, Mia Garlick, Meta’s regional policy director, responded that “all options are on the table.”

Garlick informed the inquiry that there are numerous channels from which individuals can obtain news content.

She stated that Meta anticipated Canberra’s decision to implement an untested 2021 law that grants the government the authority to determine the fees that U.S. technology companies must pay media outlets for connections.

The comments are the most compelling evidence that Meta would adopt the same strict stance in Australia as in Canada in 2023 when that nation implemented comparable legislation.

Meta entered into agreements with Australian media companies, such as News Corp and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, upon implementing the law in Australia. However, it has since announced that it will only extend these agreements by 2024.

Australia’s assistant treasurer is now responsible for determining whether to intervene and compel Facebook to compensate for news content. The assistant treasurer has stated that he is still gathering advice; however, Meta appears to adhere to the law solely when it is advantageous.

In the meantime, Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media, Australia’s two largest free-to-air television broadcasters, announced this week that they were reducing their workforce.

They attributed the decision to a potential decrease in revenue following the expiration of their respective contracts with Meta.

When asked on Friday whether barring news from Facebook in Australia would constitute the circumvention of the law, Meta’s Garlick responded that such an action would be by the law.

“Every other law – tax laws, safety laws, privacy laws – we work to comply with,” said the representative. “It’s just compliance, which would look slightly different about this law if it’s fully enacted.”

Although Garlick stated that Meta’s content moderation centers were in other countries, she defended the company’s procedures for Australians to file complaints if they believed the company was disseminating detrimental misinformation or scams.

When asked about Andrew Forrest, an Australian mining billionaire suing Meta for displaying cryptocurrency scam advertisements featuring his visage, Garlick stated that the company had procedures in place to identify and prevent scams, but “there are numerous challenges.”

Sarah Hanson-Young, a Greens Senator, inquired how Meta could refer to itself as an advertising enterprise when “some ads sell lies.”

“We have policies and systems and tools to do everything we can to prevent those ads,” Garlick responded.