Meta ranks criminals ahead of journalists: Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has accused the Mark Zuckerberg-owned tech behemoth of being more sympathetic to the criminal world than a free press.

Federal Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has unleashed on Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta. Picture: Martin Ollman

Federal Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has levelled a blistering accusation against trillion-dollar company Meta, accusing the Mark Zuckerberg-owned tech behemoth of being more sympathetic to the criminal world than a free press.

The Labor government is awaiting advice from The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and Treasury as to whether it can, or should, designate Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – under the news media bargaining code, and thus force the US-based giant to negotiate payments to Australian news publishers for the right to use their content.

Meta “deprioritised” news on its Australian platforms in April, justifying the move by saying that fewer and fewer users are accessing news content on social media platforms – a claim not backed up by any credible research.

But it’s understood that Meta has indicated to the federal government that it will “do a Canada” and pull all news from its platform if the government designates the company under the news media bargaining code.

Under that scenario, all professionally created news content would be removed from Meta platforms, paving the way for un­verified material to fill the void.

That threat has prompted Mr Jones to double-down on his hardline stance against Meta.

“Meta seems more determined to remove journalists from their platform than criminals,” Mr Jones told The Australian on the weekend.

“The government has publicly and privately made our position to Meta very clear: Australian news media businesses should be fairly remunerated for news content used on digital platforms.

“The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is leading direct information gath­ering with news media businesses as it develops its advice to government. The government is following the process to the letter of the law and won’t pre-empt advice from the ACCC and Treasury.”

It is widely expected that the ACCC will consider Meta’s status as “unavoidable trading partner” when assessing if the company is the beneficiary of an imbalance in bargaining power in the market, and therefore, should be required to conduct commercial negotiations with news publishers to pay for the content it profits from.

Once the ACCC has concluded its engagement with publishers – which could be as early as the end of this month – the ball will be back in the government’s court, and the showdown with Meta will ­sharpen.

Mr Jones held meetings with several publishers last week to discuss the code and reinforce government support for journalism.

But the government is also taking a tough position on Meta’s ongoing failure to do anything about the spread of misinformation and disinformation on its platforms, and the online scams it facilitates.

The government has pledged to introduce legislation imposing mandatory obligations on social media companies, bank, and telcos providers to disrupt scams and protect their customers and users.

Failure to do so will see the imposition of massive fines.

Mr Jones has previously warned Meta that “it’s not above the law” in relation its inaction on the issue of online fraud.

Last month, Communication Minister Michelle Rowland told The Australian: “Australians rely on the news media for information about the issues that affect their lives, be it anything from politics to consumer affairs to emergencies.

“Trusted and accurate news underpins the health of our democracy, economy and society – and around half of all Australians use social media to access news.

“When Meta cuts off access to news, they remove the trusted, accurate information that is the antidote to the misinformation and disinformation which flourishes online.”

News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller has previously described misinformation and disinformation as “the Frankenstein creations built in Meta’s laboratory”. “The truth is misinformation and disinformation are phenomena that exist only because of social media’s dominance, business model and deep unwillingness to protect their users.”

A Meta spokesman did not respond to questions.