Resist big tech’s blackmail threat

Anthony Albanese spoke for many Australians on Saturday when he rejected the preposterous claim by tech giant Meta that its social media sites have not harmed children. Meta executives also told the joint select committee on social media and Australian society on Friday they could not guarantee news would continue to be available on its sites, which include Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, if the government insists that it continues to pay Australian publishers for news it transmits on its sites. In March, Meta announced it would not renew its existing deals to pay local publishers for their news content that features on Facebook when agreements, signed in 2021, expire later this year.

Meta was showing it was out of touch and arrogant, the Prime Minister said: “Every parent knows that social media can have a damaging impact on the mental health of young people, on social exclusion, on the bullying that can occur online, on grooming that can occur in a dangerous way online as well.” Meta was not only refusing to accept any responsibility, but refusing to acknowledge there was a problem.

Mr Albanese also said social media companies, including Meta, had a responsibility to keep news on their platforms where many Australians accessed it. And they should pay for that news, to pay for the journalism that was so important.

On June 21, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller told a parliamentary inquiry into social media that Meta’s refusal to negotiate for fair compensation for its use of news outlets’ content was akin to blackmail. By refusing to renew its agreement to pay for news content, Meta was daring Australia to apply the laws parliament was united in passing in 2021, Mr Miller said.

“It is getting ready to say: ‘If you dare designate us under the media bargaining code, we will punish you by blocking Australian access to local news’,” he said on June 21. “They don’t negotiate, they dictate.”

That is precisely what happened on Friday. On Sunday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told The Australian that Meta’s threat to pull all news content would affect “millions of Australians” and the government would not take it sitting down. “We expect every company to abide by our laws,” a spokeswoman for the minister said. “The government will not be held to ransom by multinational companies who blatantly threaten to avoid them.”

The government’s immediate challenge, with agreements between big tech and Australian media companies set to expire, is to act on that position.