| Social media companies are threatening the sustainability of news media in Australia, MEAA says in a new submission to a Parliamentary inquiry. In its submission to the joint select committee on social media and Australian society, MEAA says platforms like Facebook, X and TikTok are distorting the public discourse by failing to control misinformation and disinformation. MEAA’s submission directly contradicts the assertion by Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, that it is not in the news business and is not responsible for misinformation. MEAA says Meta is a jmajor source of news for Australians and has started using news content to train its AI models. MEAA is recommending that Meta should be designated under the News Media Bargaining Code and should be forced to continue to carry news content. Other recommendations include expanding the Code beyond Facebook and Google to other platforms including Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X; amending the Code to specify that money must be spent on public interest journalism; and broadening its scope to include smaller outlets. | 