Jobs on the line as media chiefs unite in stinging rebuke of Meta

Top executives from Australia’s three largest commercial media companies have warned of job cuts across newsrooms if Facebook and Instagram’s parent Meta fails to renew the deals struck with publishers under the media bargaining code.

On Friday, a trio of executives from Nine, News Corp and Seven West Media slammed the “toxic” impact of social media on Australian democracy and society, pointing to the growing incidence of trolling, political interference, scams and blackmail.

Speaking at the Social Media and Australian Society inquiry in Canberra, the executives argued the federal government should impose further regulations on social media platforms, including the potential expulsion of Facebook from Australia if Meta failed to comply with local laws and values.

‘Ban them’: Nine’s Mike Sneesby, News Corp’s Michael Miller and Seven West Media’s Jeff Howard in Canberra on Friday.Credit: AAP

“We cannot be scared to designate the platforms that refuse to recognise our sovereign laws,” Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby said. He added that the consumption of news content on social media had never been greater, with views of Nine video content across Meta’s platforms now totalling about 5 billion a year.

Sneesby was joined by News Corp Australasia executive chair Michael Miller and Seven West Media chief executive Jeff Howard at the first session of the parliamentary committee, which was called in May after Meta said it would not renew its commercial agreements with local publishers.

Meta signed the agreements with Australian news outlets in 2021 following the introduction of a bargaining code. They are due to expire this year.

Miller said Meta’s claim that news accounted for just 3 per cent of what users saw on the platform was “misinformation”, referencing a recent study by the University of Canberra and Reuters that found 48 per cent of Australians had accessed news on a Meta platform in the past month.

He added that Meta was “preparing to blackmail” media organisations and the federal government by refusing to renew its deals for news content.

Meta’s exit from the bargaining code would remove about $70 million of funding a year for publishers, and would likely lead to job cuts across Nine’s newsrooms, including this masthead, Sneesby warned on Friday.

“Most certainly, if the deals aren’t renewed across the industry, we will see pressure on jobs,” he said. “Obviously, media companies are not looking for a free kick. We just want a level playing field.”

News Corp has already begun cutting costs across several divisions, a response to a weaker advertising cycle, and the expected loss of revenue from Meta.

Miller, who presented a similar argument during a National Press Club appearance this month, argued that social media platforms should be forced out of the Australian market if they refused to play by local rules.

“If they don’t want to play by our rules, I think we ban them,” he said.

“Other companies that don’t want to play by Australian rules and laws can’t operate here, whether it be mining companies, whether it be telcos, we have rules in place. If they don’t want to play by Australian laws and protect Australian values, then why do we want them here?”

The three executives were forced to defend their own companies’ impact on society. All three refused to say whether they should be forced to abide by similar codes of conduct relating to disinformation and misinformation.

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