Why Meta is mocking Labor’s empty threats on the news media code
More than six months ago, Meta said it would stop paying for Australian journalism. The government’s response has been to huff and puff, but it certainly hasn’t blown the house down. In fact, nothing has happened at all.
The golden thread that runs through the Albanese government is weakness and inaction. It has been on proud display on this issue.
Meta has thumbed its nose at the government, and gotten away with it. Back in December, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones described the government’s powers under the News Media Bargaining Code: “Let us be very clear: we already have the power to designate digital platforms, and we are prepared to use it.”
Tough words. But just words, and Meta didn’t care. A couple of months later, it announced its decision to stop paying for Australian news.
When that happened, Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland issued a statement saying Meta’s decision “represents a dereliction of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media”. And the ministers added ominously that “the government has made its expectations clear” to Meta.
Normally when a government says something like that there’s substance behind it. Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg made his “expectations clear” to Mark Zuckerberg over the same issue when the Coalition was in government. The result: Meta started paying tens of millions of dollars annually for Australian journalism.
When Jones and Rowland made their “expectations clear”, fear was not instilled into the tech giant.
In the same joint statement in March, the ministers said the government “will be taking all of the steps available to it under the News Media Bargaining Code from the Prime Minister to every minister in the government.” Sounds like a big deal. How then to reconcile with Meta’s testimony before the parliament on September 4.
Meta said the only minister who had actually met with it was Jones, and the discussion was with the company’s regulatory affairs head for Asia-Pacific. No discussions with Zuckerberg. No discussions with any Meta global executive who could actually influence the company’s conduct on this issue.
So what were Jones and Rowland talking about? That question can be asked about many of the ministers’ statements in recent months. Rowland expressed solidarity with journalists on March 13, saying: “This will be devastating to Australian publishers. It will have a profound impact on the quality of news media in this country.”
True. So do something about it. The next month, The Guardian quoted Minister Rowland as saying she was confident the government “would “get a result” in the code negotiations”. That was 140 days ago.
Jones is particularly fond of dramatic statements, but less fond of the hard work required to actually solve problems. On May 5 he was quoted in The Australian saying that Meta “seems more determined to move journalists from their platform than criminals”.
On June 25, he said the government would “not be held to ransom by multinational corporations who blatantly threaten to avoid” Australia’s laws. And then on July 31, Jones said there would be a “whole-of-government response” to Meta’s actions and other issues affecting the media sector. This “whole-of-government” response was coming “in the near future”. It hasn’t materialised.
When Meta made its announcement more than six months ago, it was obvious it could lead to job losses in Australian journalism. That has happened.
Companies including Seven West, Nine Entertainment, News Corporation and Australian Community Media have all linked recent job losses directly to the loss of Meta revenue. Fewer journalists means less informed public debate. That is manifestly a bad thing for Australia.
The News Media Bargaining Code gives the government powerful tools to make Meta pay. Under the Coalition, Meta did pay. Under this government, Meta is not paying. The impact is not theoretical. It is very real.
Companies such as Meta do not respond to undergraduate zingers. They respond to strength. It is well past time that the government acts. The future of Australian journalism is at stake.
David Coleman is shadow minister for communications.
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