Meta to pull $70 million from Australian news publishers, wind down Facebook News tab

Social media giant Meta has announced it will stop paying for Australian news content in a shock announcement that will pull deals worth around $70 million.

Social media giant Meta has announced it will stop paying for Australian news content in an announcement that has sent shockwaves through the industry.

The Facebook and Instagram parent company informed executives at the country’s largest news publishers in a series of phone calls on Friday morning that deals, worth around $70 million, would not be renewed after they expire later this year.

The deals were originally struck under the Coalition government’s News Media Bargaining Code, which forced tech giants like Facebook and Google to pay news outlets for content shared on their platforms.

Meta confirmed in a statement on Friday that in early April it would “deprecate Facebook News — a dedicated tab in the bookmarks section on Facebook that spotlights news — in the US and Australia”.

“This follows our September 2023 announcement that we deprecated Facebook News in the UK, France and Germany last year,” it said.

“This is part of an ongoing effort to better align our investments to our products and services people value the most. As a company, we have to focus our time and resources on things people tell us they want to see more of on the platform, including short form video. The number of people using Facebook News in Australia and the US has dropped by over 80 per cent last year.”

The Albanese government has reacted with fury to the announcement, saying it “represents a dereliction” of Meta’s commitment to Australian news and that it will seek advice from the competition regulator on its next steps.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Picture: Josh Edelson/AFP

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller said he welcomed the government’s “support for the Australian media industry and its wholehearted commitment to upholding our laws and the News Media Bargaining Code”.

“Meta is using its immense market power to refuse to negotiate, and the government is right to explore every option for how the Media Bargaining Code’s powers can be used,” Mr Miller said in a statement.

“Meta is attempting to mislead Australians by saying its decision is about the closure of its news tab product, however the vast majority of news on Facebook and Meta is and will continue to be consumed outside this product.”

Mr Miller said the decision would “directly impact the viability of Australia’s many small and regional publishers and this is a pressing issue for the government to confront”.

“We will work in any way we can to assist the processes the government is putting in place,” he said.

The introduction of the landmark laws came after a major battle between former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the tech giants, which furiously lobbied against the proposed changes.

Google threatened to withdraw its search engine from Australia and Facebook at one point banned all news from being seen by Australian users as it campaigned for changes.

After the passage of the laws, Meta signed confidential deals to compensate news outlets including News Corp, Sky News, Seven, Nine and The Guardian, but those deals start to expire from the end of this financial year.

Sky News Australia reports Meta has knocked back efforts over the past few months to discuss new deals.

In its announcement, Meta said “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”.

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“As we previously shared in 2023, news makes up less than 3 per cent of what people around the world see in their Facebook feed, and is a small part of the Facebook experience for the vast majority of people,” it said.

“The changes affecting the Facebook News feature will not otherwise impact Meta’s products and services in these countries. People will still be able to view links to news articles on Facebook. News publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages, where they can post links to their stories and direct people to their websites, in the same way any other individual or organisation can.”

It added that news organisations “can also still leverage products like Reels and our ads system to reach broader audiences and drive people to their website, where they keep 100 per cent of the revenue derived from outbound links on Facebook”.

“While we’ll be deprecating Facebook News in these countries, this announcement does not impact the terms under our existing Facebook News agreements with publishers in Australia, France and Germany,” it said.

“These deals have already expired in the US and the UK. 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.”

In a joint statement on Friday afternoon, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said 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. The Australian government is committed to the News Media Bargaining Code and is seeking advice from Treasury and the ACCC on next steps.”

The government will now work through “all available options” under the News Media Bargaining Code.

“The government will continue to engage with news publishers and platforms through this process,” they said.

“The Albanese government is committed to promoting a strong, sustainable and diverse media sector given its vital importance to our democracy and social cohesion.”