An email will be sent to your email Inbox with a secure code made up of letters and/or numbers, which is used to verify your identity. Once you have read the code, return to the Facebook set up page and carefully enter it into the box provided. An additional complication is that many of these global companies have long been accused of structuring their tax affairs to “realise” money they make elsewhere in low-taxing countries such as Ireland or Singapore.
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Whenever you want to log into your Facebook account, type facebook.com into your web browser address bar, click on your account name and enter your password. Facebook will use your email address to verify your details when you set up an account, and it may also contact you in the future to alert you to any suspicious behaviour on your account. The government is unsure whether Microsoft (which owns LinkedIn) and Apple will be covered by its $250 million threshold but is confident it will apply to Alphabet (which owns Google), Meta, and ByteDance (which owns TikTok).
“This proposal sees a small subset of one sector being forced to commercially subsidise another, and we don’t believe such a tax exists in any other area of the economy,” a spokesperson said. But the introduction of a tax “risks the ongoing viability of commercial deals with news publishers in Australia”, they said in a statement. The first round of Meta and Google agreements had provided a substantial revenue stream to major commercial publishers and the ABC, which used its money to add 60 journalists to its regional workforce.
“Digital platforms receive Wolf Winner Online Casino huge financial benefits from Australia, and they have a social and economic responsibility to contribute to Australians’ access to quality journalism.” The expiration of those agreements, and Meta’s threat not to renew them, made the government reconsider how to get platforms to pay without spooking them to pull news off their platforms. The commissioner has alleged that the company breached privacy laws by giving the personal information of some Australian Facebook users to the This is Your Digital Life app. The payment to the Australian Information Commissioner announced on Tuesday will be open to users impacted by the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook users in Australia could receive a payout after Meta agreed to a historic $50 million settlement with the nation’s information commissioner.
The $50 million in Australia will be the largest settlement paid by Meta over the scandal outside the US. Commissioner Tydd said the payment demonstrated that all entities operating in Australia had to be transparent and accountable in the way they handle personal information. Australian Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said the settlement was the “largest ever payment” dedicated to addressing the privacy concerns in Australia. The agreement will end the legal proceedings as part of the Federal Court action launched by the commissioner in 2020. A strong password means your account will be more secure as strong passwords are very hard to guess.
With 77.7% of internet users actively using Facebook, it maintained its position as the most-used social media platform in the country. Additionally, 22% of social media users considered Facebook their favorite platform, further emphasizing its significance. Its web traffic referral rate of 65.82% was the highest among all platforms, showcasing its influence in directing users to other sites. On the digital front, Facebook ranked 3rd among Australia’s top websites, with 224 million visits (Similarweb) and 206 million visits (Semrush).
- Tech companies, including Meta, say they’re concerned about the proposal, while Australian media organisations have welcomed it as a positive step.
- This suggests that middle-aged women were slightly more active on Facebook, potentially for community engagement and social interactions.
- The ministers have opted not to release their plans for the rate of tax or the size of the offset, except to clarify that it will apply to all social and search platforms with Australian revenue of over $250 million and will not be “refundable”.
- A tech tax might be the federal government’s path out of a six-month stalemate with Meta over the company’s refusal to pay for Australian news, writes Ange Lavoipierre.
- While full details have not been settled, this raises the possibility that platforms could choose to sign exclusive deals with one or some outlets.
Facebook users can check a specific help page on the Facebook website to see if they might be entitled to compensation. “This groundbreaking outcome reflects the significant concerns of the Australian community,” she said. Meta is expected to work with an independent third-party administrator, which will be appointed early next year, to notify users who may be eligible.
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In 2024 Facebook Australia had 125 employees including employees from all subsidiaries under the company’s control. A Google spokesperson said the company had struck agreements with more than 80 Australian media companies since 2021, which they had committed to renew as they expired. Coalition ministers say it has taken the government nine months to respond to Meta “thumbing its nose” at the government, and the question now must be how much longer it will take before social companies are forced to pay. The government has not outlined the details of the size of the tax or the offset, with further negotiations to follow. Tech companies, including Meta, say they’re concerned about the proposal, while Australian media organisations have welcomed it as a positive step. “Today’s settlement represents the largest-ever payment dedicated to addressing concerns about the privacy of individuals in Australia,” Australian Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said in a statement on Tuesday.
This suggests that Facebook remained a popular platform among women, potentially due to its diverse content, social networking features, and marketplace usage. Among adults aged 18 and above, 81.5% were Facebook users, making it a key communication and engagement tool for the majority of the adult population. Additionally, Facebook’s user base covered 66.0% of Australia’s total internet users, demonstrating its continued dominance in the country’s digital landscape. The Australian government is part of long-running global efforts to stamp out this practice, but the new tax could bolster the incentive for tech platforms to take advantage of any available loopholes. Meta has previously threatened to pull all news from its Australian platforms if forced to pay, as it did briefly in 2021. While this proposal will dull that threat by making Meta pay whether it hosts news or not, the government is also conscious of avoiding more drastic actions such as the company withdrawing from Australia entirely.
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The government is proposing a new tax for large tech platforms, which can be offset if the platforms enter into pay agreements with news outlets. The controversy saw the social media giant unlawfully release the personal data of millions of Facebook users worldwide — including Australians — almost a decade ago. A closer look at recent trends shows that Facebook’s growth continued in late 2024, with 300,000 new users added between October 2024 and January 2025—a 1.8% increase in just three months. This indicates that Facebook’s relevance and engagement remained strong among Australian users, maintaining its position as a dominant social media platform.