Meta Platforms Inc. said Friday it will not renew contracts with Australian news outlets for its Facebook News product, a decision being countered by the government, which mandates tech giants strike licensing deals with media outlets for news content under existing laws.

The Facebook operator said the decision to discontinue the Facebook News tab in Australia and the United States from April reflects an ongoing effort to align investments with the products and services people value the most, Meta explained in a statement.

Meta stopped providing Facebook News in Britain, France and Germany last year.

The Australian government was quick to denounce the move by Meta on Friday, which would represent a significant drop in revenue for Australian news publishers.

"Meta's decision to no longer pay for news content in a number of jurisdictions represents a dereliction of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media," Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said in a joint statement.

The government will seek advice on the next steps from the Treasury and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the government's competition watchdog, according to the statement.

"What we want to happen is to see Meta back at the bargaining table, negotiating in good faith and doing the very Australian thing of ensuring that you pay for what you use," Jones said at a joint press conference with Rowland.

Under the world-leading laws, Meta signed 3-year deals with 13 Australian news outlets, according to the Australian Treasury.

The agreements, due to expire in the next few months, represent up to AU$200 million ($130 million) in revenue for Australian news publishers, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing the government.

In 2021, Australia became the first country to enact the laws, forcing tech giants such as Meta and Google to pay to display news on their platforms.

==Kyodo

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