Facebook will shut off its News tab this week, but the real threat to journalism is more serious

There are fears Meta shutting down Facebook’s News tab is the first step towards blocking Australian media content entirely. This is what you need to know.

Meta is refusing to pay Australian media outlets for content distributed on its platforms.

In changes which started on Tuesday, Facebook parent company Meta will remove the News Tab from the social media site, after announcing it was pulling out of a deal with Australian media companies to fairly reimburse them for their content. Other changes on Instagram and Threads will also reduce the amount of content which is deemed “political” which is appearing in users’ feeds. Meta’s actions have drawn scathing rebukes from media outlets, politicians and academics, and raised fears that the company will go as far as blocking all news on their sites, as it has done in Canada. We unpack what’s happening this week, and why.

What is happening to media content on Facebook this week?

Starting on Tuesday, Meta is “deprecating” the News Tab on Facebook, effectively removing the dedicated news tab in the Facebook menu, with the change also affecting the US. This follows Meta rolling out the change in the UK, France and Germany last year. Meta says that the number of people using Facebook News has dropped by 80 per cent in the past year, and argues that “people don’t come to Facebook for news and political content’’.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifying in Washington DC.

Facebook banned all news from appearing on its feeds in Canada. Will that happen here?

There are grave fears that Meta will ban all news content from its Australian products such as Facebook and Instagram, after it took that extreme action in Canada - and when asked specifically to rule out such action in Australia this week, Meta declined to do so. Meta banned all news content on its platforms in Canada last year after refusing to comply with that country’s Online News Act, which is broadly equivalent in its intent to our News Media Bargaining Code. In Canada not only can media organisations not post their own content, users cannot even share news content on Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Tim Duggan, who is chair of the Digital Publishers Alliance, has warned the Australian community that the same fate could befall us, and says Facebook has in the past warned local publishers that they would die out if they did not co-operate with the digital giant.

Will I still be able to see news on Meta’s sites such as Facebook?

Yes, however the dedicated news tab will disappear and changes to the Instagram and Threads algorithm are making it less likely that content deemed “political”, which includes all news, will appear in your feed. Meta has said this downgrading of political content will also be rolled out across Facebook at an unspecified later date.

Instagram and Threads are also downgrading news on the respective platforms.

Why will Instagram and Threads carry less news?

Meta has made changes to Instagram and Threads so that content it has deemed political will not be proactively shared in users’s feeds. Instead, users will have to opt in to being shown accounts which do share political content, which naturally includes all media outlets, by going into their settings and making a change. It is understood the change has been rolled out in Australia recently. Meta says “This control will also roll out on Facebook at a later date”. Professional accounts which are caught up in this change will have to ask for a review from Meta to be designated as not political.

“They can edit or remove recent posts, request a review if they disagree with our decision, or stop posting this type of content for a period of time, in order to be eligible to be recommended again,’’ Meta says.

Will I still see content from news outlets I follow on Facebook?

Yes, for now, although with the changes to the algorithm previously flagged, you will in the future be less likely to come into contact with news content from outlets you do not specifically follow, and the spectre of an outright news ban still looms.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Meta’s actions are unconscionable.

Why is this really happening?

In 2021, the federal government introduced the News Media Bargaining Code: “a mandatory code of conduct to address bargaining power imbalances between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms, specifically Google and Facebook’’.

The legislation also gave government the power to “designate” the platforms if they did not meet their obligations under the code.

No organisations have to date been designated, but the existence of the code motivated Meta and Google to strike deals with publishers such as News Corp Australia to fairly compensate them for their content. Previously, that content was being carried on the platforms without any payment to its producers. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a review of the code that it had been a success in that it generated the anticipated outcome of news organisation being paid for their content. Facebook said in March it would not negotiate new deals under the code, and would walk away from it at the end of the financial year when the deals expire. That decision will cost Australian media outlets hundreds of millions of dollars over time.

Why is the News Media Bargaining Code important?

The production of quality news content is an expensive business, and one fundamental to the functioning of a healthy democracy. Meta and Google were for years getting a free ride on the back of content produced by media organisations large and small, driving engagement with their platforms while not paying for the content they were using. The Code helped right that imbalance.

Could Meta face consequences from walking away from its agreements under the code?

Yes.Meta could be “designated” under the code by the federal government - effectively the Treasurer - and be forced to the negotiating table.If a company is designated under the code, “a registered news business may, in particular, trigger the negotiation, mediation, and arbitration provisions of the code’’, Treasury guidelines say. Mr Duggan, from the aforementioned Digital Publishers Alliance, said rather than negotiate, it “is more likely that Meta will simply block every Australian from ever accessing important news through Facebook and Instagram again’’.

“They’ve already done this in Canada, and the effect has been devastating to small and independent publishers,’’ he said recently.

“The biggest impact of all will be to everyday Australians, who will see a rise of rabid misinformation and disinformation in their daily consumption, with fewer media sources left to tell them what is truth and what is a wild unchecked conspiracy that your aunty just shared.’’

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says Meta is posing a threat to Australian Journalism.

What has the political reaction been?

Meta’s decision to stop paying for news content and remove its news tab have been slammed by politicians of all stripes, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying Meta’s actions were unconscionable and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland saying they were a threat to Australian journalism.

“The idea that one company can profit from others’ investment – not just investment in capital but investment in people, investment in journalism – is unfair. That’s not the Australian way,’’ Mr Albanese has previously told The Australian.

Ms Rowland said: “It’s a decision that suits (Meta’s) own commercial interests, but is inconsistent with the government’s aim of ensuring that we have strong public-interest journalism that is properly compensated’’.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the decision would be a blow to public-­interest journalism. “Without professional, fact based journalism, Facebook will just be a collection of conspiracy theories, outrage and misinformation,” she said.

Former ACCC chairman Rod Sims, who was pivotal in the code’s creation, said the move by Meta was ­selfish and arrogant. “Facebook will continue to benefit for content they are not paying for and all the profits from use of their platform go to Facebook and no one else,” he said.