Facebook, Instagram, X in firing line after stabbings failure, says Stephen Jones

Mark Zuckerberg’s company has refused to strike new voluntary agreements handing about $70 million to media companies – including with Nine, owner of this masthead – for sharing news links in posts.

Meta first agreed to pay up under threat of the Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg-era news media bargaining code in 2021 but may choose to remove all news content on Facebook and Instagram, as it has done in Canada.

The government is mulling recommendations from news organisations – including small publishers which might wither without social media reach – including forcing Meta to keep news through a “must-carry” provision or taxing local revenue to fund journalism.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told this masthead on Wednesday that damaging online falsehoods during Sydney’s wave of violence fuelled the case for her proposed anti-misinformation bill.

Minns lent his support to Rowland’s plan, saying the way social media firms allowed menacing information to disseminate was antithetical to “community cohesion and calmness”.

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“Maybe apologists for social media companies can say well look in the immediate aftermath of someone posting, it is difficult to take it down,” he said.

“But … we’re two days into this. It’s more than 48 hours after these images were first projected on social media. There is still some very graphic material that I understand is up on several social media sites. It needs to come down.”

“I mean, that to me demonstrates a callous indifference to what these images are doing in our community.”

ESafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant this week used her legal powers to demand X, formerly known as Twitter, and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, take down distressing footage of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being attacked during a live-streamed service.

A spokeswoman for the commissioner said late on Wednesday she was satisfied with Meta’s attempts to comply but was still assessing X’s response. Inman Grant is yet to say what she would do to hold X to account.

Meta said in a statement on Tuesday: “We have taken steps to prevent possible copies of the incident being re-shared”. Minns confirmed some pages that were infamous for spreading misinformation had been taken down, but did not specify which pages.

Speaking on ABC radio, Rowland said no responsible government would spurn a crackdown on social media firms even though a backlash over restrictions on free speech forced the government to temporarily shelve the laws last year.

“If we needed to see any case study about what can happen when misinformation spreads at speed and scale, we only need to look at what happened in Western Sydney the other night,” she said.

“The destruction, the damage to public property threats to life and health.”

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