panida wijitpanya
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) will consider blocking all news content from Facebook in Australia if the government forces it to pay licensing fees to media outlets to display links, in line with the decision it took in Canada that implemented a similar law.
“All options are on the table,” Mia Garlick, regional policy director at Meta (META) told a parliamentary hearing on Friday when asked if the company would block sharing of news content in Australia to avoid paying fees.
“There’s a large number of channels that people can get news content from,” Garlick told the Social Media and Australian Society inquiry.
Meta (META) is waiting for a decision on a 2021 law regarding the fees that’s yet to be applied, she said. “To comply with the law, yes, we need to stop the sharing of mainstream media news.”
The inquiry began after Meta (META) decided it would not renew contracts with Australian publishers beyond 2024, and not enter new commercial deals for traditional news content.
Garlick’s comments were made during the second public hearing for the inquiry, which was also attended by representatives from Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), TikTok Australia and Snap. The inquiry will issue recommendations on or before November 18.
Google (GOOG) has said it would ink new deals with local media publishers once their existing contracts expire.