A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
Earlier this week I did something I had never imagined I would: I made my debut on TikTok. The same video has also appeared on other social media sites, including ones that are doing their damnedest to keep The Canberra Times out of your feed.
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The purpose of these videos was to ask our followers to show their support for our important local journalism by joining us as digital subscribers or signing up to receive our free news updates via email.
You'll be aware by now that Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is making Australian news harder to find on its social networks.
News stories are being deprioritised in your algorithm-controlled "feed", the dedicated news tab has been removed from Facebook, and Meta says it will withdraw its current funding support for news outlets like ours that share credible local journalism to its users.
Making it worse, last week The Canberra Times exclusively revealed how Meta's brand new AI tool is pumping out fake news with ease we've never seen before.
All this is already pointing to a social media ecosystem inherently set against credible information and towards only the frivolous and the fictitious.
If the Albanese government does as it says it will and designates Meta under Australia's News Media Bargaining Code, we fully expect Mark Zuckerberg's $1.7 trillion company to block all news content.
They'd much rather do that than contribute a fair amount to contribute to a sustainable future for Australian journalism.
We've been here before, of course. Remember in 2021 when for a week or so Facebook reacted to the introduction of the bargaining code by blocking all access to news content in Australia? Remember how community and emergency service organisations got caught up as collateral damage and how Facebook couldn't care less?
If you don't think it would happen again, just know that Facebook has been blocking all news stories in Canada since last August.
Given what we know about the behaviour and profit-over-society priorities of Meta, we expect to soon vanish from your social feeds. But before that happens, you can show your support for our journalism and sign up with us directly to help keep Canberra strong, informed and connected.
You can:
- Sign up below to receive our free morning news update, breaking news alerts and other newsletters sent straight to your inbox;
- Join us as a The Canberra Times subscriber, and
- Download our app.
If you are already a subscriber, thank you for that vital support. Our team depends on you and the many thousands of others in this city who back local journalism.
If you follow us on social media, don't rely on an algorithm to show you real news. Visit our website to subscribe or sign up to our newsletters and support the local news you trust.
