Media bosses have warned that local news coverage and newsroom jobs could shrink if the government fails to ensure Meta renews its agreement to pay for news content.
The current news bargaining code, enshrined in legislation, is worth about $70 million in commercial deals to the media publishers getting paid for posting news content on Meta's platforms.
After Meta announced it would stop these deals, the federal government stepped in with a parliamentary committee to investigate social media.
In the first public hearing of the committee, industry leaders slammed Meta.
“Make no mistake, Meta’s decision will mean ACM and many other publishers will be forced to close titles,” Australian Community Media managing director Anthony Kendall said at the social media inquiry held in Canberra.
Nine CEO Mike Sneesby warned jobs could be lost if Meta fails to do deals with local media.
“For Nine, the consumption of our news content on social media platforms has never been greater,” Sneesby said.
As a result, without Meta's deals Nine would see an "immediate and detrimental impact on newsrooms around the country" risking jobs and coverage.
But this would be even more devastating for regional publications, Country Press Australia president Andrew Schreyer said.
"Without the (News Media Bargaining Code in place), there's no doubt that there would be less regional local papers in Australia," he said.
"There will be closures of mastheads in regional and rural Australia."
News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller accused Meta of blackmailing the news industry and the government.
"If we cave in on this, we’re caving in on everything," Miller said.
Seven West Media chief executive Jeffrey Howard said the government should also consider revising the code to include more platforms that have risen in popularity since the law was introduced.
Howard pointed to the University of Canberra's recent Digital News Report that found Australians were getting their news from a greater number of social networks.
"While Facebook has come down a bit, YouTube, Instagram, X, Facebook Messenger, TikTok, WhatsApp and LinkedIn have all grown. They should be included," Howard said.
As well as news deals, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told the inquiry the current Online Safety Act review would be critical to addressing social media risks.
This is on top of a test of age-verification technology that could prevent children under 16 accessing social networks.
"Kids can't go to a bar until they're 18 and show their ID, same thing with a porn movie or a porn shop," she said.
"(Rules) should match the requirements that we have in the real world."
The committee is due to present an interim report to parliament by August 15, and a final report by November 18.
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