Treasury Official Rejects Calls to Ban Social Media Platforms

The icons of mobile apps are seen on the screen of a smart phone in New Delhi, India, on May 26, 2021. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images)

Treasury Assistant Secretary Tony McDonald has rejected the idea that Australia should outright ban social media platforms that do not follow Australian rules.

This comes after News Corp Australia Executive Chairman Michael Miller suggested banning Meta for intending to leave the News Media Bargaining Code and stop paying news organisations for Australian content on its platforms.

Mr. Miller also proposed including other popular social media platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, in the Code due to their rapid growth and influence as news sources.

During a parliamentary hearing on June 25, Mr. McDonald was questioned about the Treasury’s stance on the issue and potential measures to make social media platforms adhere to Australian regulations.

In response, the assistant secretary said banning digital platforms would be ineffective in enforcing regulations.

“The platforms are an unavoidable trading partner, so you don’t want them to turn off,” he said.

Mr. McDonald noted that it was necessary to balance the needs of small publishers that relied on digital platforms with those of large legacy media organisations supporting stricter requirements for social media companies.

“I think it’s an appropriate consideration to think through the impact of a decision across all relevant stakeholders, not just the media,” he said.

“And part of the tasking that government gives us is to try and find a way to meet as many of the needs of as many stakeholders as possible.”

Mr. McDonald also stated that from a competition perspective, introducing regulations such as the Code, could sometimes have the unintended consequence of lessening competition because larger players could comply with those rules more easily than smaller players.

Challenges in Enforcing Regulations on Social Media Platforms

At the same time, Mr. McDonald shared with the committee about the challenges of enforcing regulations on global social media companies.

While the assistant secretary acknowledged that the Australian parliament has the power to create laws to regulate digital platforms, he said there was an issue of whether the government could effectively enforce these regulations, as many social media operated outside Australia’s jurisdiction.

“One of the challenges of the digital space is where they [social media organisations] actually operate,” he said.

“From a practical point of view, we sort of see them on our phones. We think, well, they must be here. We’re interacting with them here. But legally, the questions are not quite as straightforward.

“There’s a question for us of where [those] platforms are operating and our capacity to effectively enforce the laws that we have.”

Mr. McDonald’s concern was reflected in the case between the eSafety Commission–Australia’s online content regulator–and social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter.

In September 2023, eSafety issued X with an infringement notice for failing to comply with the federal government’s requirements to crack down on child sexual abuse materials and fined the company $610,000 (US$407,000).

However, X has not paid the fine even though the deadline has long passed.

At a Senate committee hearing in February, eSafety representatives admitted that the agency had no power to force X to pay the fine.