Young people need news. Young people want news.
But soon, the top destination for news for young people could vanish overnight.
That’s what happened in Canada, and what could happen next in Australia if the Federal Government and Meta don’t reach a different conclusion.
And what would that spell? In my view, nothing short of a disaster for democracy.
Without a strong news ecosystem on social media, young Australians will have nowhere to access reliable, fact-checked information. We know young people won’t actively seek out news elsewhere—all the research tells us that.
So what will happen instead? We’ll see a rise in influencer-led commentary attracting young people. To death with the editors, fact-checkers and journalists that make up modern newsrooms—young people will have unchecked opinions in their place.
The Daily Aus—a company I started with my best friend many years ago—engages young Australians who didn’t read any news before us, and won’t read any hard news if we disappear.
It’s no accident we’ve grown to be one of the biggest news pages in the country —we serve a new generation of news consumers who see social media as a key, irreplaceable source of news.
Young people need to have access to reliable news—it’s up to the Government and Meta to make that a reality.
