Meta’s potential payment about-face books it a review by Treasury

Facebook’s parent company has dumped media payment deals in the US but insists it won’t do that in Australia.

Meta has moved to address concerns that it might renege on deals with Australian news organisations to pay for content, declaring its local arrangements are safe for now, following the company’s decision to dump news payments in the US, and reports of it not attending relevant local events.

In 2021, Meta – then called Facebook – and Google reluctantly agreed to pay news companies and journalism organisations in Australia after the federal government introduced a mandatory bargaining code.

The code included compulsory “baseball” arbitration should no agreements be reached.

Treasury now is conducting a review of the code, which will examine the extent to which the code delivered outcomes consistent with its objectives, and identify potential improvements.

The review does not include the code’s policy objectives, say the terms of reference.

A Treasury spokesman said the federal government supported the intent of the code and would consider the review’s outcomes carefully.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. Picture: AFP

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which developed the code, would not comment. It has no role in monitoring the Meta and Google deals.

Journalism union the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance said Meta had negotiated far fewer agreements than Google. An MEAA submission said that in the first 11 months, Google had entered into deals with 19 news businesses compared with Meta’s 11.

“MEAA is not surprised at reports that Meta/Facebook continues to object to the news media bargaining code,” said Adam Portelli, director of the MEAA’s media section.

“The company has demonstrated contempt for the Australian public – both before the code was legislated, by shutting off the news feeds of Australian media organisations, and since, by refusing to compensate media outlets such as SBS and The Conversation for the journalism it profits from.

“The Treasurer should acknowledge this ongoing intransigence and designate the company. It is high time for Meta/Facebook to be formally captured under the code and compelled to bargain with news content providers, large and small,” Mr Portelli said.

The MEAA submission states that the code “enables a digital platform to marginalise small ­independent publishers and broadcasters”.

Meta had been against the code from the start. In February 2021, it blocked Australian users from sharing or viewing news stories but reversed the ban five days later after talks between then treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta said its announcement to end agreements with US news publishers would have no impact on its News Tab product in Australia. “This doesn’t impact any of our current deals in Australia,” a Meta spokesman said.

Google initially also was a reluctant participant, telling a parliamentary committee in January 2021 that it would have to stop making Google Search available in Australia if it were forced to pay for news. It later signed agreements with more than 80 publishers representing more than 200 mastheads, more than half of which are smaller publications. It did not comment on Wednesday.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg while on a conference call with Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg in 2021. Picture: PMO

Around mid-year, Meta began telling US publishers it would not renew contracts to feature their content on Facebook news tabs, according to The Wall Street Journal. It reported that Meta previously had forged deals worth more than $US100m ($143m) including deals worth more than $10m with The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

It reported Facebook had reallocated resources from its News tab platform “to focus more on the creator economy, citing an internal company memo”.

“Most people do not come to Facebook for news, and as a business it doesn’t make sense to overinvest in areas that don’t align with user preferences”, a Meta spokesman told the Journal.

The paper said similar deals forged with countries including Australia, France, Germany and the UK would stay. However, Meta had also reported its first decline in revenue, while facing stiff competition from rival TikTok. Meta was reallocating resources into short-form videos and development of the metaverse.