Zuckerberg fails to convince Australia lawmakers to back down from new media rules

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on January 30 failed to convince the Australian lawmakers to change the policy that requires tech giants to pay news media outlets for content, Australia’s Treasurer said in a televised interview. Josh Frydenberg stated on Australian Broadcasting Corp’s “Insiders” program on Sunday that Facebook’s Chief Executive Officer “could not convince” him to back down in what he described as a ‘very constructive’ dialogue. The Australian treasurer added that the tech boss had reached out to him to talk about the code and its impact on Facebook. Australia’s new media law reforms require tech firms like Google and Facebook to pay the news organisations for displaying their content online. 

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Addressing the Australian press the communications lawmakers had re-iterated that the public broadcaster’s funding legislation will not be negotiated despite potential windfall from the new media code. The media law was introduced in the Australian Parliament, just over a year after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its Digital Platform Inquiry – final report1 (DPI), which revealed loopholes of unregulated online media platform and unpaid news that led to misinformation online.

Despite strong pushback from Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google, ACCC released a mandatory code of conduct (Code) to regulate digital platforms by paying for the verified news content to the media organisations. Mark Zuckerberg, who had attempted to negotiate Australia’s codes of conduct, failed once again, even as Google announced the licensing program to pay publishers moving forward. 

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What does Australia’s media 'mandatory code' address?

According to Australian lawyer, McCullough Robertson’s analysis, Australian Government, in conjunction with Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), introduced papers on how to regulate the multi-platform media landscape and digital platforms. One year after ACCC’s Digital Platform Inquiry, the Australian government introduced the draft mandatory code of conduct in 2020 known as the "News Media Bargaining Code"  announced by communications minister Paul Fletcher. Australia will head a Senate inquiry into the proposed legislation this month. The purported code aims to regulate:

1. Control and regulate the news media content and data sharing
2. Ranking and display of verified and authentic news content
3. Monetisation and the sharing of the revenue generated from news and earned as profit by the tech giants