Meta execs to face pollie grilling

Two senior Meta executives will again front a parliamentary probe into the effects of social media, after previously claiming the platforms don’t harm children and dodging questions on whether Facebook would ban news.

The social media giant’s vice president and global head of safety Antigone Davis and regional director of policy Mia Garlick will face the social media committee for a second time in Canberra on Wednesday afternoon.

New committee chair Sharon Claydon, who took over after Labor MP Kate Thwaites was promoted to an assistant minister, said she would seek clarification and “interrogate Meta” on claims made in a hearing from June.

“Australians are increasingly concerned about the influence and impact of social media on so many areas of our society, including our mental health, wellbeing, safety and social cohesion,” the Labor MP said.

“I look forward to hearing from Meta about these issues, as well as exploring further the implications of their decision to abandon deals under the News Media Bargaining Code.”

In June, Ms Garlick wouldn’t confirm whether Meta would ban links to news sites on Facebook, as it has done in Canada, saying “all options are on the table”.

The business has already announced it would not renew the News Media Bargaining Code, which pays publishers for its news content.

“We have made that announcement that we are deprecating the Facebook news product … we are still paying out the deals that supported that product,” Ms Garlick said.

“We haven’t had any indication from the government about any potential next steps and so I’m not in a position to be able to share more details about hypotheticals.”

The social media giant was accused of attempting to a rial a news ban in August when Threads users were unable to share links to Australian news sites, however Meta said the issue had been caused by an error.

Ms Davis also caused outrage among committee members when she said she didn’t think social media harmed children.

“I think that social media has provided tremendous benefits,” she said at the time.

“I think that issues of teen mental health are complex and multifactorial. I think that it is our responsibility as a company to ensure that teens can take advantage of those benefits of social media in a safe and positive environment.”

The committee is expected to imminently release a more “substantial” interim update in the coming weeks, before it presents its final findings by November 18.