News bosses take aim at ‘toxic’ social media

The heads of Australia’s three largest commercial media companies have appeared before a sweeping parliamentary inquiry that will place the technology and behaviours of social media giants under the microscope.

The probe, tasked with investigating the “influence and impacts of social media on Australian society” comes amid growing community concern about the corrosive effects of online platforms, particularly on young people.

Appearing before the inquiry on Friday, traditional rivals News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media presented a united front, demanding further steps from government to clampdown on harmful content online and act on Meta’s decision to walk away from Australia.

“Social media has become a toxic force in our society with online scams and blackmail, cyber-bullying and trolling, deep fakes and political interference,” News Corp chief executive Michael Miller told the committee.

News bosses take aim at ‘toxic’ social media

“It is also setting up a diet of damaging untruths, or threatening the democratic process by restricting Australians access to genuine news and information.”

The News Corp boss also reiterated calls for News Media Bargaining Code, requiring digital platforms to pay local publishers for their news content.

Meta – the parent company of Facebook – announced in March it would not renew commercial deals with Australian media companies under the Code at an estimated cost of $70m to local publishers.

“If we want to bring the social media giants under control on an issue as big as the lives of our children, then we cannot surrender on a smaller but also incredibly important matter like the Media Bargaining Code,” he said.

“If we cave in on this, we cave in on everything.”

Mr Miller said the claim by Meta and other social media companies that their users were not interested in news was “absolutely not true”.

“Meta says that news makes up less than three per cent of what people see on Facebook. That is also not true,” Mr Miller said.

“Actually 48 per cent of Australians get their news using a Meta platform.”

Nine Entertainment boss Mike Sneesby agreed that the amount of news consumed via social media was far greater than social media companies had reported.

“For Nine the consumption of our news content on social media platforms has never been greater,” Mr Sneesby said.

“The abandonment of the News Media Bargaining Code by platforms such as Meta will have an immediate and detrimental impact on our newsrooms around the country.”

Mr Sneesby also drew attention to the negative impact of social media on news publishers beyond audience and revenue.

“Journalists at Nine and other outlets experienced targeted and vicious trolling on an all too regular basis, with female presenters often being the subject of the worst online bullying,” he said.

“Something that is well documented to occur far more broadly, particularly impacting our children and teens.

“Too little has been done by [Meta] to stop this behaviour.”

Also appearing before the inquiry, Seven West Media chief Jeffrey Howard contrasted the minimal regulation that social media platforms faced compared with local publishers.

“We are regulated. We operate within codes of compliance,” Mr Howard said.

“If our audiences don’t like our content, they can complain. Our news has to be balanced and accurate and there are consequences if it isn’t.

“I don’t remember anyone seeking apologies or compensation from the social media platforms after the Bondi Westfield tragedy – we did both,” he said, referring to an inaccuracy in Seven’s reporting of the event.

Mr Howard told the committee that social media companies were “dominating” the advertising pool, with most of their revenue then going offshore.

“We compete aggressively for what’s left and have restrictions on what and where we can place that advertising,” he said.

“We pay tax in Australia and we hold each other to account.”

Remove platform-specific exemptions, media bosses demand

Social media platforms currently exempt from the Code, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X and WhatsApp, should be required to negotiate with local publishers, the bosses of Nine, Seven and News Corp have demanded.

“Quite clearly over that period of time, Instagram, mostly through video growth, has grown to a scale of significance,” Mr Sneesby told the committee.

“TikTok has also done so, I think dangerously, in a very young skewing audience, where they are monopolising a big part of the most vulnerable audience in Australia.

“Most certainly the landscape has developed in a way that we should be looking to include those platforms.”

With new platforms coming to market, Mr Miller called for parent companies, rather than individual sites to be designated.

“I would be looking at the top code, not just the assets below,” he said.

Mr Howard shared the views of his colleagues, arguing significant growth in rival sites since the inception of the Code in 2021 warranted further examination.

“There needs to be a review of it,” he said.

Media bosses back under-16 social media ban

The heads of the commercial news organisations were similarly united in their receptiveness to a Coalition proposal that would prohibit individuals under 16 from accessing social media sites by implementing age verification technology.

Pointing to News Corp’s “Let them be kids” campaign, which has highlighted the mental ill health and physical harms linked to social media, Mr Miller said the company supported a ban.

“Our mastheads are very clear on the fact that the age limit should be raised,” he said.

Mr Sneesby said the measure needed to be accompanied by further regulation on tech platforms.

“It is one of the potential ways of protecting those younger audiences in the younger population,” he said.

“But it also puts that back to a certain degree on the Australian public rather than imposing the appropriate regulations for the platforms themselves to ensure that they are acting in the best interest of the Australian population.”

“I agree with both of my colleagues on this,” Mr Howard said.

Committee holds first public hearings

The inquiry’s first public hearing will also hear from the ACCC, ACMA and the eSafety commissioner on Friday.

The Albanese government established the inquiry in May to investigate how the social media giants deal with media and other issues including children’s access, the effect on Australians mental health, and how dangerous and illegal content can be managed.

It’s due to deliver an interim report in August and a final report on November 18.

More to come