One in four Australians use social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram as their main source of news despite Meta’s plans to scrap deals for paid news content.
Up to 32 per cent of Australians use Facebook to access news, the Digital News Report 2024 led by the University of Canberra and the Reuters Institute revealed.
The report found that three in four members of Generation Z (74 percent) access news on social media, an increase of 15 percentage points from last year.
Generation Z increasingly uses social media as their primary source of news, while engagement with online, radio and print news has dropped by 49 percent.
The report found that television remains the main source of news for 74 percent of boomers, 57 percent of Generation X and 77 percent of Generation Y.
Online news websites were the main source of news for 59 percent of Generation Y.
Overall, television as the primary source of news has fallen four percent since last year.
Up to 32 per cent of Australians use Facebook to access news, the Digital News Report 2024 led by the University of Canberra and the Reuters Institute revealed (file image)
One in four Australians use social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram as their main source of news despite Meta’s plans to scrap deals for paid news content (file image)
The investigation was carried out before Meta announced it would cancel paid news content deals, citing a sharp drop in interest.
The US company cited a drop in traffic to Facebook’s News tab in its decision not to renew commercial deals with Australian news publishers.
Meta said the number of people accessing the dedicated news tab in Australia and the United States had dropped by 80 percent in 2023.
However, Facebook remains the main social media platform for news in Australia.
Crystal Andrews, founder and editor of Zee Feed, said meta apps were important news channels for millions of Australians.
“Whether we like it or not, Facebook and Instagram have become important news channels for millions of Australians,” he wrote in the report.
“Banning news would be a devastating blow to small publications, news ‘makers’ and the overall diversity of the media landscape.”
Andrews said eliminating news channels on social media would result in a population less engaged with the news and more reliant on the opinions of “ordinary people” who reflect their own point of view.
“Whether this increases the spread of misinformation and poor journalistic practices more than some sectors of the mainstream media is up for debate,” he said.
In March, Meta announced it would not renew commercial deals with publishers following similar moves with European media organizations in September.
“We will not enter into new commercial agreements for traditional news content in (Australia, France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom) and will not offer new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future,” the statement read.
The company said it would close the Facebook News feature on its Australian and US platforms in April and look to focus its investments on content such as short videos, as “people don’t come to Facebook for news and political content”.
The report found that three in four members of Generation Z (74 percent) access news on social media, an increase of 15 percentage points from last year (file image)
But Meta’s changes stop short of reinstating its brief news ban in Australia.
“People will still be able to see links to news articles on Facebook,” it said.
“News publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and pages, where they can post links to their stories and direct people to their websites in the same way that any other individual or organization can.”
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland criticized the move, saying it would hit the media industry.
“It’s an abrogation of responsibility towards Australia’s media sector,” he said.
“Australian media editors deserve fair compensation for the investments they make in it.”