top of page
Moving People

News

Facebook rejects call to share revenue with Australian media

  • France24
  • Jun 15, 2020
  • 2 min read

Facebook on Monday rejected calls from the Australian government and news companies that it shares advertising revenue with the media, suggesting it would rather cut news content from its platform.

The US tech giant said in a submission to Australia's competition watchdog that news represents a "very small fraction" of the content in an average user's news feed.

"If there were no news content available on Facebook in Australia, we are confident the impact on Facebook’s community metrics and revenues in Australia would not be significant," it said in a thinly veiled threat to boycott local news companies.

"Given the social value and benefit to news publishers, we would strongly prefer to continue enabling news publishers’ content to be available on our platform," it said.

In an effort being closely watched around the world, Australia is set to unveil plans to force Facebook and Google to share advertising revenue they earn from news featured in their services.

The initiative has been strongly pushed by Australia's two biggest media companies, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Nine Entertainment.

They argue that the crisis roiling the news industry worldwide is mainly because of Google, Facebook and other large tech firms capturing the vast majority of online advertising revenues, without fairly compensating media companies for advertisements placed against news content.

The loss of advertising dollars that previously flowed to newspapers has forced cutbacks and bankruptcies across the sector, a process exacerbated by the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In Australia, News Corp, Nine and other media have both announced major cuts in an editorial staff, with more than 170 newsrooms and newspapers suspended or shuttered in recent years.

Australia's competition regulator, the ACCC, has estimated that Google and Facebook together earn some Aus$6 billion (US$4 billion) a year from advertising in the country.

Leading news publishers have demanded the two companies pay at least 10 per cent of that money each year to local news organisations.

Google last month rejected the demand, saying it made barely Aus$10 million a year from news-linked advertising.

The two companies' positions bode ill for negotiations the ACCC hopes to pursue between the tech firms and Australian media companies over a mandatory "code of conduct" governing issues such as revenue sharing, curbing disinformation, data sharing and protecting user privacy.

The ACCC has until the end of July to draw up the final code, which the government has said it will quickly implement.


Kommentarer


construction-image1.jpg

Subscribe and keep up to date with all the latest news from Oakmark

Subtle Shapes Transparent
WEST AFRICA'S NO.1 ECONOMIC AGENTS

Oakmark Global Vision provides a bespoke business package to established corporate bodies, investors, and entrepreneurs who desire to enter the West & Pan African market. Find out more >

© 2025 Oakmark Global Vision Ltd - All Rights Reserved.

UK Company No. 07634879 / Nigeria Company No. RC 1288232

Regional Office

International Office

1 Kandi Close, Off Aminu Kano

Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja F.C.T

Nigeria 

+234 -(0)- 929 207 02

+234 (0) 704 497 6500

info@oakmarkglobalvision.com

King Court, 17 School Road

Hall Green, Birmingham

United Kingdom  B28, 8JG

+44 (0) 121 244 1814

+44 (0) 746 625 2505

info@oakmarkglobalvision.com

 Oakmark Global Vision Limited

bottom of page