Several media publishers in Australia have revealed how “potentially catastrophic” it would be for their businesses if Meta removes all news from Facebook and Instagram in the country.
Broadsheet Media, which publishes the culture and community news website Broadsheet and has 65 full-time employees, said it estimated it would lose up to 52% of its revenue if Meta no longer distributed news.
This would “make it nearly impossible for the business to survive,” it told the Australian Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society.
Meta has threatened to remove all news from Facebook in Australia if it is “designated” under the world-first News Media Bargaining Code, which has the power to force digital platforms to pay for the use of news on their platforms.
Related
This year Meta said it was ending the Facebook News product in Australia as it has done elsewhere and will not renew any deals it previously made with publishers in the country. These began to expire at the end of May, with the last one running until December.
Content from our partners
Parliament can choose to force Meta to pay publishers for their content through arbitration by designating it under the Code. But Meta’s decision to remove news might avoid that.
Meta already removed news from its platforms in Canada last summer over a similar bill that said tech giants should pay publishers for news content appearing on their platforms.
The Australian Parliament’s Joint Select Committee is now looking at Meta’s decision to abandon its publisher deals and the role of journalism in countering mis- and disinformation on social platforms. Publishers have been sending in their submissions for the past month.
[Read more: UK publishers should be ready for Facebook to switch off news altogether]
The Daily Aus, a digital news company with a full-time staff of 15, a focus on audiences under 35 and a particular reliance on Instagram, told the committee Facebook’s threat to remove news is already adversely affecting business.
“Already, Meta’s actions have led to lost commercial deals and hindered TDA’s expansion plans,” it said.
Although it told Parliament it is currently “financially sustainable”, it said it has “lost approximately AUS$450,000 (£234,788) worth of commercial advertising agreements in which clients have directly referenced Meta’s actions and a potential ban” since February.
As a result the publisher withdrew adverts for three editorial roles in March and has “deprioritised” plans to expand into the US ahead of the presidential election.
The Daily Aus claims to be the second-largest news page on Instagram in Australia after ABC News, reaching three million accounts in the 90 days to 23 June. But it has begun efforts to “diversity from reliance on Meta” including by expanding its daily newsletter, podcast, website, Tiktok and Youtube channels.
Of the potential aftermath of a news ban, it said: “A 50% revenue cut as a result of TDA’s removal from Meta would necessitate staff redundancies, limit our ability to provide free news, and stifle future growth and technological innovation.”
Publishers ‘already feeling the effects’ of Facebook news algorithm changes
The Digital Publishers Alliance surveyed its members in March, receiving responses from about half, and found that an average of 18% of independent publishers’ traffic came from Facebook referrals – ranging from 0% to 50%.
The DPA told the select committee that this showed “that despite Meta’s attempts to dial down its importance, referrals from Facebook still represent an important source of traffic for many digital publishers.
“This percentage has decreased in recent years as Facebook have intentionally tweaked their algorithms to direct less traffic to publishers.”
The survey also found that 80% of respondents said that a removal of news from Facebook and Instagram “would have a significant, or extremely significant, impact on their business” with the impact coming not just from advertising lost in referral traffic but in sponsored social media posts as well.
Australia’s Local and Independent News Association said local publishers are “already feeling the effects” of Meta’s algorithm changes and will be affected even more, and disproportionately, if news is banned.
The trade body, which represents 70 digital news publishers, said posts by its members are “now reaching around 15% of the audience that similar posts were reaching mere months ago” having a direct impact on advertising revenues.
The Conversation, an academic-led publication founded in Australia before its launch internationally , also revealed it has seen a “sharp reduction of its audience via Facebook of 40% since an algorithm change in May 2024”.
Although this has not had a direct financial impact on The Conversation because of its non-profit grant-led funding model, it said “it does mean less Australians are seeing evidenced based, trusted news and analysis where they are spending significant time” – a point made by most of the publishers in their submissions as well as the recurring financial concerns.
The co-founders of Australian men’s lifestyle site Man of Many said they anticipated a fall in website traffic of around 2% to 4% if Facebook drops news as well as the loss of 6,700,048 social interactions per month.
Around 20% of Man of Many’s overall revenue is driven by referrals from Facebook and Instagram, they said.
“This decline would not only impact our revenue but also hinder our ability to foster community engagement and maintain brand visibility.”
Private Media, which publishes digital media brands Crikey and Smart Company, cited a figure of AUS$600m (£313,000) for the payments that have come into the news industry from the likes of Meta and Google as a result of the Code but noted that despite this “in recent weeks we’ve seen significant redundancies across every major media company as they adapt, not to cyclical changes, but large structural changes that will see even more of their advertising businesses shift to the digital platforms”.
Redundancies have been announced at News Corp Australia, Seven West Media and Nine since the end of May.
Publishers split on whether Meta should be designated under News Media Bargaining Code
However, the publishers appeared split on whether Meta should be forced by designation under the Code to pay if this could lead to it removing news.
The Daily Aus said: “Meta’s designation will likely lead to the removal of all news pages, including TDA, from its platform. This will severely harm TDA, which did not benefit financially from NMBC deals but will face significant consequences from a news ban.
“This outcome will cause job losses for young journalists, the disappearance of vital Australian stories, and disengagement from democratic processes among TDA’s audience of over 3 million Australians, primarily aged 18-35.”
And Man of Many said: “Designation under the NMBC risks Meta withdrawing from news entirely, as seen in Canada. This would be potentially catastrophic for independent publishers in terms of audience reach, given that they have not received any NMBC funding, thereby unintentionally stifling diversity by giving an advantage to already established media players, with the financial benefits under the Code having only flown through to the large media conglomerates.”
However, The Saturday Paper publisher Schwartz Media and Free TV, an industry body representing commercial free-to-air broadcasters, said Meta should be designated.
Schwartz said: “We believe Meta needs to be designated under the code, and the full value Meta receives from news content properly represented.”
And Free TV urged the Government “to designate Meta, particularly in respect of both Facebook and Instagram, but also WhatsApp and Threads, under the News Media Bargaining Code, as there is a significant imbalance in the bargaining position in favour of Meta, without Meta making any discernible contribution to news sustainability in Australia. Government should also designate other platforms such as YouTube and TikTok to ensure that the creators of Australia’s news content are fairly remunerated.”
Several publishers backed the countering of a potential news ban by forcing Facebook and other social media platforms to carry news.
Broadsheet Media said the Code “can only be successful if it requires: 1. the digital platforms ensure news availability, with minimum prominence; 2. all eligible publishers are supported by the outcomes of the Code; 3. the Code is expanded to include Instagram, TikTok, You Tube, Threads and X; and 4. the terms of the deals completed are transparent.”
And Man of Many recommended the implementation of “policy measures to prevent digital platforms from withdrawing news content entirely, through ‘must carry’ or ‘news availability’ provisions”.
The Conversation separately suggested Meta could be forced to carry disclaimers on its content if it removes verified news providers.
“If Meta is designated and withdraws from publishing news (as it has done in Canada) to avoid triggering the NMBC, Meta could be regulated to explicitly publish disclaimers warning their audiences about the unreliable information that they disseminate much like the health warnings mandated on cigarette packaging,” it said.
Man of Many and Private Media both said a tax on digital platforms’ revenue would be more effective. Man of Many pointed to a proposed tax credit for news publishers in California that would come from taxing online advertising revenue above $2.5bn.
And Private Media said: “The sensible, sustainable approach would have been to tax the technology companies on revenues generated in Australia, and then use those funds to create incentives for public interest journalism.”
In its own submission, Meta argued that there is no evidence of an increase in misinformation in Canada since it dropped news from its platforms there and that because of changing consumption habits news referrals from Facebook have been falling anyway.
It said that since its commercial agreements with publishers and other news funding was established “there has been a change in consumer behaviour on our services. As a general rule, most people do not come to our services for news and news is highly substitutable on our services – this means that when news is not on our services, people continue to engage with other content.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
