Meta Under EU Microscope; Facebook Considering Blocking News Content in AUS; YouTube Seeks AI Music Deals with Record Labels

On today’s news digest: Meta Under EU Microscope; Facebook Considering Blocking News Content in AUS; YouTube Seeks AI Music Deals with Record Labels 

Last week, the European Commission informed Apple that it was the first company found to be in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This week, Meta is under the microscope: the EC has informed the social giant of its preliminary findings that their “pay or consent” advertising model fails to comply with the DMA. The EC highlights that the model does not allow users to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data, or allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to their data being used. The EC summarises: “To ensure compliance with the DMA, users who do not consent should still get access to an equivalent service which uses less of their personal data, in this case for the personalisation of advertising.” 

Now, more from Meta as we examine the latest in the intersection of social media and publishing. Australia’s battle against Meta continues, with the government set on the fact that the social giant should pay local media organisations for news content on Facebook. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called social platforms arrogant and irresponsible for failing to prioritise news. The Australian government is now considering applying a law introduced in 2021 – the news media bargaining code – which would give them the right to set fees which tech giants would be obliged to pay media news outlets for links. In response, a Meta representative has reported that they are considering blocking news content from Facebook if the Australian government forces them to pay licensing fees. 

Moving on from Meta, YouTube is reportedly in talks with record labels in the hopes of forging AI music deals. YouTube is seeking permission to legally train AI song generators with music by popular artists belonging to record labels including Sony, Warner and Universal. YouTube has offered the major labels lump sums of cash. As it stands, it looks like the deals would be one-off payments for access to music, rather than royalty-based arrangements. Most artists, however, have been vehemently opposed to their work being used to train AI, so an agreement of this sort would be extremely controversial. 

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