Meta announced on Friday that it will not be pursuing new commercial agreements for traditional news content in Australia, France, and Germany.
“Additionally, in order to focus on investing in products and services that enhance user engagement, we will not be entering into new commercial agreements for traditional news content in these countries and will not be introducing new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future,” Meta stated in a release.
The parent company of Facebook has frequently clashed with Australia regarding a mandate for paying publishers for news content.
“Meta’s choice to cease payment for news content in various regions is a failure to uphold its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media,” remarked Australia’s assistant treasurer Stephen Jones in a statement.
He further mentioned that the government is consulting with the Treasury and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for guidance on the next steps to take.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal and Lewis Jackson in Sydney; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
