Refuse to pay! Meta (META.US) is reducing its news business in multiple countries.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, announced on Friday that it will not reach new commercial agreements on traditional news content in Australia, France, and Germany. In a statement, Meta said, "To ensure that we continue to invest in products and services that drive user engagement, we will not be entering into new commercial agreements for traditional news content in these countries, and we will not be offering new Facebook products for news publishers in the future." Additionally, Meta stated that it will be shutting down Facebook News in the US and Australia in early April. There have been disputes between Meta and Australia over the issue of Facebook paying news publishers for their content. Australian Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones stated, "Meta's decision to no longer pay for news content in multiple jurisdictions is a betrayal of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media." He added that the government is seeking the opinions of the Treasury Department and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on the next steps. Reports indicate that Meta is gradually shutting down its news operations in the US and Australia as part of its overall transition away from the news business. In a blog post on Thursday, Meta announced that it will be shutting down Facebook News in the US and Australia in early April. This means that the company will no longer support the feature, but news will not disappear from the site. Legislators around the world have been urging Meta to pay for content that appears on its social platform. However, Meta has stated that fewer users are turning to Facebook for news. The company had previously stopped promoting news content to users in the UK, Germany, and France. "Last year, the number of users using Facebook News in Australia and the US decreased by over 80%," Meta stated in the blog post. Meta has also consistently avoided recommending posts about politics. Meta had previously suspended all news content links on Facebook and Instagram in Canada to avoid payment under the country's online streaming legislation.