Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk could be called on to face federal parliament as Labor launches a far-reaching inquiry into the negative effects of social media, and Meta’s refusal to pay Australian news publishers for their content.

Meta – Facebook’s parent company – said in March it would let expire agreements to pay news outlets about $70 million a year for their original journalism, sparking anger from the Albanese government and companies including News Corp, Nine Entertainment and Seven West.