Meta's regional policy director Mia Garlick told lawmakers
"all options are on the table" when asked if the company would block
Australians from sharing news content to avoid paying fees.
“There’s a large number of channels that people can get news
content from,” Garlick told the inquiry.
She said Meta was waiting for Canberra to decide if it would
apply an untested 2021 law which gives the government the right to set the fees
U.S. tech giants pay media outlets for links.
The comments are the strongest indication so far that Meta
would take the same hardline approach in Australia it took in Canada in 2023
when that country introduced similar laws.
Meta struck deals with Australian media firms including News
Corp and the Australian Broadcasting Corp when the law was brought in
Australia, but has since said it will not renew those arrangements beyond 2024.
It now falls on Australia's assistant treasurer to decide
whether to step in and force Facebook to pay for news content. The assistant
treasurer has said he is still collecting advice but that Meta seems to respect
the law only when it suits.
Australia’s two largest free-to-air television broadcasters,
Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media, meanwhile said this week they were
cutting jobs, citing loss of revenue once their deals with Meta expire.
Asked on Friday if blocking news from Facebook in Australia
would amount to sidestepping the law, Meta’s Garlick said taking that action
would be complying with it.
“Every other law – tax laws, safety laws, privacy laws – we
work to comply with,” she said. “It’s just compliance would look slightly
different in relation to this law if it’s fully enacted.”
Garlick defended Meta’s processes for Australians to
complain if they believed the company was spreading harmful misinformation or
scams, although she said its content moderation centres were all in other
countries.
Asked about Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest,
who is suing Meta for showing cryptocurrency scam advertisements featuring his
face, Garlick said the company had processes In place to detect and stop scams,
but “there are a lot of challenges”.
How could Meta call itself an advertising business when “some
ads sell lies”, asked Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
“We have policies and systems and tools to do everything we
can to prevent those ads,” Garlick replied. – Reuters
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