Meta has criticised an Australian proposal to impose a new tax on social media platforms for using news content to fund media outlets, calling the move “grossly unfair.”
“Our position is clear: this law is poorly designed, grossly unfair, and will fail to deliver a diverse and sustainable news industry,” said Meta, the $1.6 trillion parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The reaction followed Australia’s proposed News Bargaining Incentive (NBI), under which Canberra would impose a levy on Meta, Google, and TikTok. Revenue raised through the measure “would be distributed to local news organisations based on the number of journalists they employ,” according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Under the Labor government’s proposal, Meta would be required to strike agreements with local media organisations or face taxes of up to 2.25 percent of revenue generated in Australia, the first country to ban social media access for children aged 16 and under.
The tech giant argued that the legislation “will leave Australian journalism dependent on a government-administered subsidy regime while doing little to help smaller publishers and independent journalists.”
Earlier in 2024, Meta withdrew from a 2021 agreement and ended Facebook News services in Australia.
Meta also argued that the NBI “violates the commitments Australia and the United States made in their bilateral Free Trade Agreement.”
