Reports that Meta’s abolition of fact-checking with a “user-based system” would flow on to Australia have been knocked back by communications minister Michelle Rowland.
The Facebook parent announced last week plans for a system of “community notes”, details of which are still emerging. Opposition to the changes has come from a variety of sources including US-resident royals, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who called it “deeply concerning”.
But there is a possibility the new system – similar to that on Elon Musk’s social media platform X – may not be seen Down Under. Talking on the ABC’s Radio National, Rowland said Facebook had “no immediate plan” to abandon fact checking in Australia.
“We have been advised by Meta Australia that there’s no immediate plan to end the third-party fact checking programme in Australia, including prior to a federal election, but I think that Australians will be questioning the amount of speech, the amount of civic content, for example, that Meta has indicated people will continue to see on their feeds,” she said.
“As a government, we make clear that the tech companies do have that social, economic and democratic responsibility, regardless of where companies operate, they must still abide by Australian laws.”
Meta says it is working to improve Community Notes in the US, and has work to do before considering expansion to other countries, and will “carefully consider” its legal and regulatory obligations in each country, including Australia.
Last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a video its platforms would now “prioritise free speech”, with fact-checking having beome “too politically biased”. The move has been seen as appeasing incoming US president Donald Trump.
But in a statement , Rowland stressed the potential harm misinformation could cause, talking up its support for national broadcaster the ABC, SBS and news agency AAP. “Access to trusted information has never been more important,” she said.