After the Australian Competition and Consumers Commission (ACCC) tabled a draft regulatory code to allow Australian news publications "to negotiate for fair pay for their journalists' work," Facebook's Australia is pushing back.
Facebook Australia executive director Will Easton released a statement today claiming the regulations "misunderstand the dynamics of the Internet and will harm the very news organizations the government is trying to protect".
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"Assuming this draft code becomes law," Easton continued, "we will be reluctant to stop allowing publishers and people in Australia to share local and international messages on Facebook and Instagram."
Easton believes the Regulatory Code is a "result that is contrary to logic and does not affect, but affects, the long-term dynamism of the Australian news and media sector".
Easton said Facebook had invested millions of dollars in local Australian news companies, claiming the ACCC misunderstood the dynamics between Facebook and news organizations.
"The ACCC believes that Facebook benefits the most in its relationship with publishers, although the opposite is true," he wrote. "News is a fraction of what people see in their news feed and is not a significant source of income for us. However, we recognize that news plays a vital role in society and democracy, so we provide free tools and training Help media companies to reach an audience many times larger than before. "
The ACCC did not immediately return a request for comment.
Google has too pushed back against the proposed regulationsclaiming they are "compromising the free services you are using".
In response, the ACCC claimed that Google was not forced to charge users "unless it chooses". The ACCC believes that its proposed rules will "remove a significant imbalance in bargaining power between Australian news media companies and Google and Facebook".
According to the ACCC's proposal, companies like Facebook and Google have three months to negotiate with Australian media organizations.
"A healthy news media sector is essential to a well-functioning democracy," the ACCC said in a statement.
