Facebook gives thumbs down to ACCC push for greater transparency in news ranking

Facebook has disputed calls for regulation of its news rankings, labelling draft ACCC proposals as “unprecedented”.

The Facebook logo appears on screens at the Nasdaq. Picture: AP

Facebook has disputed calls for regulation of its news rankings, describing the proposals put forward by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as “unprecedented”.

In a response to the ACCC’s preliminary report into digital platforms, the technology giant said it did not see itself as an “essential” channel for news distribution, adding it did not believe regulation would solve the issue of supporting sustainable journalism.

Facebook’s submission follows the ACCC’s draft report into the market power of digital platforms, released in December, which said Facebook and Google’s lack of transparency around prioritisation of content raised concerns over whether platforms were favouring their own businesses, or certain businesses they had a relationship with. In its report, the ACCC proposed a regulator which would provide more transparency on how news stories were ranked.

This morning, Samantha Knox, Facebook’s associate general counsel, competition, described the proposals as “unprecedented”.

“A lot of the regulatory measures that have been proposed are not effectively targeted at the challenge that the news ecosystem here in Australia is experiencing,” Mia Garlick, director of public policy at Facebook Australia and New Zealand, added.

“Algorithm transparency isn’t going to help with those monetisation challenges that we are trying to work towards,” Ms Garlick said.

But despite criticism of the rankings proposal, Facebook refused to speculate on what the impact of the proposed regulation would be for its business specifically, instead focusing on the impact it would have on the consumer and small businesses.

“It’s premature to speculate, and I don’t want to, including because there are not a lot of details in the preliminary report as to how this would play out, but the proposed news ranking regulator is at odds with the purpose of news feed and the product vision and what we deliver,” Ms Knox said.

Facebook’s submission follows a number of responses to the inquiry, which were released on Monday. While its criticisms are similar to tech giants Google and Twitter, they are contrary to a number of Australian businesses and industry bodies, which supported the ACCC’s proposals for regulation of news and advertising rankings.

While Facebook disputed regulation of its algorithms, it agreed to some proposals, including changes to privacy law.

The final report is due in June.