Aussie media mogul Rupert Murdoch has taken aim at Facebook over its latest News Feed change, telling the social media behemoth to start paying publishers a carriage fee.
Murdoch said in a statement that if Facebook wants to recognise ‘trusted’ publishers, then it should pay them a carriage fee similar to the model adopted by cable companies.
“The publishers are obviously enhancing the value and integrity of Facebook through their news and content, but are not being adequately rewarded for those services,” he said.
Murdoch’s comments come after Facebook announced a few changes to the way publishers appear in its News Feed.
Facebook CEO Zuckerberg revealed just over a week ago that the platform will begin prioritising content from users’ families, friends and groups over media companies and brands,” which WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell said was “the right thing to do”.
Facebook followed this up with an announcement over the weekend that in 2018 it will prioritise news from publications that users rate as trustworthy, find informative, and is relevant to their local community.
However, Zuckerberg’s big social media baby wasn’t the only platform called out by Murdoch, with Google also getting a mention in his statement.
“Facebook and Google have popularised scurrilous news sources through algorithms that are profitable for these platforms but inherently unreliable,” Murdoch said.
“Recognition of a problem is one step on the pathway to cure, but the remedial measures that both companies have so far proposed are inadequate, commercially, socially and journalistically.”
