Meta 'should face criminal sanctions': News Corp chief Michael Miller

In a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Mr Miller called for new laws with criminal sanctions to force companies like Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, along with TikTok and X, to comply with a "social licence" to operate in Australia.

Executives working for the companies could be charged with criminal offences under the proposed regime, which Mr Miller argues is necessary to force big tech into social responsibility.

Mr Miller said the proposed new regime "would be able to make the platforms liable for all content that is amplified, curated, and controlled by their algorithms or recommender engines".

"The licence should require that each platform has an effective consumer complaints handling system, including call centres contactable by telephone with expert staff in Australia," he said.

He cited the case of 17-year-old Mac Holdsworth, who tragically took his own life after being the target of sextortion on social media.

Mr Miller said Meta and other social media companies had been allowed to operate with little regulation for too long, after growing powerful under permissive laws in the United States and warned of the danger of the company was allowed to "bully" Australia.

"After Meta had turned off the news in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented that Meta were 'prioritising profit over safety' as devastating wildfires forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes," Mr Miller said.

"It's intriguing that Meta has no problem turning off the news, but has a big problem turning off teenage fight clubs, the bullying of young women or scam advertising."

He noted widespread public support for better regulation to prevent social media's harms and called out tech companies for profiting from misogyny, scam factories and "evil videos".

Misinformation and disinformation, designed to cause real harm are leading people down dangerous algorithmic rabbit holes.

"Addiction and doom scrolling are now part of our lives, and we say things to people online we wouldn't dream of saying face to face," he said.

Mr Miller contrasted the behaviour of tech companies with that of mining companies, which have to comply with regulations and pay royalties to operate in Australia.

"No other business can scoop up its competitors and totally dominate a market place," he said.

"Companies wanting to do business here also have to meet our standards and sign up to our rules, laws and expectations."

Mr Miller called for the Albanese government to designate the social media company under the Media Bargaining Code, to force Meta to pay for news.

Meta announced in March that it would not renew deals with media companies, including News Corp, to pay about $70 million a year to host news on its platforms.

While Meta claims to be exiting news because users no longer want it, The Canberra Times revealed in May that the new Meta AI feature is purporting to summarise paywalled news articles, but delivering up inaccurate and misleading content.

A Meta spokesperson said it was "preposterous" to suggest the social media company did not respect Australian laws or community standards.

"We have worked closely with the Office of the eSafety Commissioner since it was established and frequently work with many local regulators," the spokesperson said.

"Weve restricted access to content out of respect for Australian laws, responded to thousands of requests from Australian law enforcement and worked constructively with them to prevent real world harm.

"Weve trained tens of thousands of young Australians in online safety, developed over 50 tools, features and resources to create safe, age-appropriate experiences, and have established a local Online Safety Advisory Group and a Combating Online Hate Advisory Group, consisting of Australian community organisations ... We look forward to continuing to make a positive contribution in Australia."

A government spokesperson acknowledged there were "serious concerns about the role, conduct and impact of digital platforms on our way of life".

"Whether it is the spread of seriously harmful misinformation and disinformation, the proliferation of scams or deep fakes, and other dangerous content, digital platforms need to do more to keep their users safe," the spokesperson said.

"The Albanese government is working across a number of measures to hold digital platforms to account, including through amendments to the Basic Online Safety Expectations, reviewing the Online Safety Act, and developing new mandatory scams codes for social media.

"The government is committed to the News Media Bargaining Code process, and has been clear in our expectation that Meta's decision is a dereliction of its responsibility to public interest journalism in Australia".