A small publisher, fearing action against it by Meta, is urging its followers on Instagram and Facebook to follow it to other social media platforms and subscribe to its newsletter.
“It’s likely Broadsheet will be kicked off Instagram and Facebook soon, along with other Aussie news media outlets,” says Broadsheet.
“Meta has already done this in other countries, and could do the same here anytime.”
Other digital publishers, among them men's lifestyle media company Man of Many, plan to post similar messages to their followers on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta , second in the league of digital advertising platforms in the world, won’t renew its agreements to pay local publishers for their news appearing on Facebook.
The publishers have responded by calling in political heavy artillery to use the law to force payment via the News Bargaining Code.
A Meta spokesperson said there had been no change to publishers' ability to use Facebook.
"They can continue to benefit from our free tools and products, which they can voluntarily use should they want to," the spokesperson said.
"We hope the government sees the many benefits our free services provide to publishers, including small and independent publishers, and we’ll continue to engage with the government on this topic."
Meta had three years ago started paying mainly the big publishers of premium content, including News Corp, Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media. The smaller news media players missed out on a share of the Meta cash, reported to be about $70 million a year.
The federal government has now asked competition watchdog the ACCC to determine whether there is a significant bargaining power imbalance between Australian news media companies and Meta in relation to its Facebook and Instagram services. This is the first step on the road to use the law against Meta.
Meta has previously threatened to ban publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram.
“Meta doesn’t want to keep paying for the valuable news content circulated on its platforms, despite pressure from the government,” says Broadsheet in its Instagram post.
“Word is, it’ll choose to scrub all news from its sites, rather than negotiate again.”
Meta says interest in news is declining on its platforms and that audiences are engaging with different types of content.
"We know our audiences come to Facebook to share the ups and downs of life, connect to local community groups, promote their business and or discover entertaining content," says Meta.
"Links to news stories are a very small proportion of that — less than 3% of the content people see in their Facebook Feed."
Traffic to news sites from Facebook fell 48% in 2023, according to the latest trends report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
Many publishers have been diversifying the source of referral traffic in the face of a steep fall in audience gain from Facebook.
Publisher Man of Many has focused on original content, particularly in video format, and the enhancement of social media presence across other platforms.
"While the landscape is shifting, social media remains a vital engagement tool, " says Scott Purcell, co-founder of Man of Many.
"Our strategy for 2024 emphasizes leveraging private messaging platforms and exploring 'dark social' channels to maintain direct connections with our audience.
"This approach, combined with our ongoing focus on video, audit and a commitment to quality content and community engagement, positions us to navigate the changes ahead effectively."
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