‘A danger to democracy’: Social media giants in firing line after stabbings failure

Furious Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones will force social media companies to answer to the federal government after the spread of misinformation had turned a “horrific week into something diabolical”.

The minister in charge of high-stakes negotiations with Meta says falsehoods and graphic imagery shared about the Sydney stabbings proved the need for real news on social media platforms, strengthening his resolve to force the US tech giant to fund local journalism.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland have their gaze set on tech giants.Credit: Ben Symons

NSW Premier Chris Minns on Tuesday savaged the “shocking” failure to remove videos of the stabbing incidents and backed proposed federal laws to punish the hosting of misinformation, which he said spread “like wildfire” after the stabbing of a western Sydney priest on Monday night.

Underlining the Albanese government’s multipronged approach to holding tech firms to account, Jones said in an interview with this masthead that misinformation about the Bondi and Wakeley attacks proved the need for government action to ensure users’ feeds prioritised reliable news articles.

“Meta seems more intent on removing journalists from its platform than all of this other dangerous content,” he said. “If the place where the majority of people are going to for information is Facebook and that information is overwhelmingly unreliable, if not recklessly wrong, then that’s a danger to democracy.

“The events of the last week have been horrific. The spreading of misinformation about these events through social media turns what has been a horrific week into something diabolical.

“Without journalism, God help us.”

Jones’ damning criticism of social media platforms comes as he helms the tense negotiation between the Albanese government and the $3 trillion owner of Facebook and Instagram, in which Australia may use untested laws to try to force fresh financial deals between Meta to local media firms.

He is awaiting a key Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report, expected before the middle of the year, which would pave the way to ordering Meta into official talks.

Mark Zuckerberg’s company has refused to strike new voluntary agreements handing about $70 million to media companies – including with Nine, owner of this masthead – for sharing news links in posts.

Meta first agreed to pay up under threat of the Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg-era news media bargaining code in 2021 but may choose to remove all news content on Facebook and Instagram, as it has done in Canada.

NSW Premier Chris Minns during a press conference on Thursday.Credit: Louise Kennerley

The government is mulling recommendations from news organisations – including small publishers which might wither without social media reach – including forcing Meta to keep news through a “must-carry” provision or taxing local revenue to fund journalism.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told this masthead on Wednesday that damaging online falsehoods during Sydney’s wave of violence fuelled the case for her proposed anti-misinformation bill.

Minns lent his support to Rowland’s plan, saying the way social media firms allowed menacing information to disseminate was antithetical to “community cohesion and calmness”.

“Maybe apologists for social media companies can say well look in the immediate aftermath of someone posting, it is difficult to take it down,” he said.

“But … we’re two days into this. It’s more than 48 hours after these images were first projected on social media. There is still some very graphic material that I understand is up on several social media sites. It needs to come down.”

“I mean, that to me demonstrates a callous indifference to what these images are doing in our community.”

ESafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant this week used her legal powers to demand X, formerly known as Twitter, and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, take down distressing footage of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being attacked during a live-streamed service.

A spokeswoman for the commissioner said late on Wednesday she was satisfied with Meta’s attempts to comply but was still assessing X’s response. Inman Grant is yet to say what she would do to hold X to account.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Meta said in a statement on Tuesday: “We have taken steps to prevent possible copies of the incident being re-shared”. Minns confirmed some pages that were infamous for spreading misinformation had been taken down, but did not specify which pages.

Speaking on ABC radio, Rowland said no responsible government would spurn a crackdown on social media firms even though a backlash over restrictions on free speech forced the government to temporarily shelve the laws last year.

“If we needed to see any case study about what can happen when misinformation spreads at speed and scale, we only need to look at what happened in Western Sydney the other night,” she said.

“The destruction, the damage to public property threats to life and health.”

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