Meta will not rule out banning all Australian news content from Facebook if the government takes legal action to force it to negotiate with publishers.
Executives from the US tech giant have told a parliamentary inquiry "all options are on the table" in relation to banning journalism from its service.
Any ban would stop Facebook users from posting links to locally produced news stories and videos, it told the Social Media and Australian Society inquiry in Canberra on Friday.
The action would represent the second Facebook news ban in Australia, which made world news in February 2021 and also restricted users' access to charities, businesses, public services and government agencies.
Mia Garlick (on screen) told the inquiry Meta considers Australia's laws are unworkable. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
Meta said its research indicated users preferred short videos to news content and insisted Facebook should not be responsible for age-verification measures to prevent children being exposed to harmful content.
The company was the first of four prominent tech firms to appear at the inquiry, called in May after Meta announced it would not renew deals struck with Australian publishers under the News Media Bargaining Code at a cost of $70 million.
Meta regional policy director Mia Garlick defended the company's decision, telling the inquiry news had represented just three per cent of content on its platform since 2018.
Ms Garlick said Meta would consider removing Australian news from Facebook if the federal government designated it under the news code that would force it to negotiate with news outlets or face large fines.
"At the moment, all options are on the table," she said.
"We're still paying out the deals that supported that (Facebook News) product and news continues to be available, but we haven't had indication from the government about any potential next steps."
Ms Garlick denied suggestions Meta was trying to sidestep regulations by banning local news, and said the company considered Australia's laws "unworkable".
A Facebook news ban would prevent any user sharing content produced by Australian media outlets, she said.
"To comply with the law, yes, we need to stop the sharing of mainstream media news," she said.
Google, which was also named under the code, said the internet giant would take a different path, striking new deals with local media outlets as they expired.
"We are renegotiating those deals," Google's Australian public policy director Lucinda Longcroft said.
The social media committee has also raised the prospect of naming other popular platforms under the code, including Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
TikTok Australia public policy director Ella Woods-Joyce said the firm did not consider itself a news platform.
"We're firmly of the view that we are not a go-to-destination for editorial news, that our users are coming for entertainment and lifestyle and other content areas," she said.
Meta says app stores and operating systems should be responsible for age verification. (Dan Peled/AAP PHOTOS)
In addition to probing news deals, the inquiry is addressing issues including harmful content, scams and extreme violence on social networks, and proposed bans for children under the age of 16.
Meta global safety head Antigone Davis told the inquiry she did not think Facebook or Instagram should launch age-verification systems.
She said age restrictions should be handled by app stores and operating systems rather than social networks, and warned teens would try to evade severe rules.
"If teens want to access services, hard bans can actually have them move to different services that are outside of the awareness of regulators, that are outside of the awareness of parents," Ms Davis said.
The inquiry is expected to deliver recommendations in November.