Australia’s legacy media fires back at Meta as analysts warn of hit to Seven, Nine profits
Meta’s move to no longer fund the news has been heavily criticised by some of the country's biggest media outlets.
Meta’s move to walk away from lucrative content deals with Australia's largest media companies has been condemned by the country's news establishment, as market analysts warned the decision could result in steep profit hits across the listed sector.
News Corp’s The Weekend Australian led its front page with a headline describing Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg as a “tech tyrant” going “to war with Australia” while Nine Entertainment's weekend Australian Financial Review was emblazoned with the headline “It’s war: Meta pulls out of news deal”.
On Monday, News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller warned in The Australian that Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is "not just doing damage to the media industry, it’s doing damage to our democracy." The AFR also ran an op/ed by Miller urging the government to "fire its cannon" at Meta.
Australia's biggest media companies are expected to commence a full-throated lobbying effort to convince the federal Labor government to take strong action against Meta, which struck lucrative deals with Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media and News Corp in 2021 after the-then Coalition government passed the News Media Bargaining Code into law. The deals, which are estimated to be worth $70 million a year across the industry, are set to expire in coming months.
