Facebook has insisted it can afford to lose news from the app.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg's firm has issued a warning to Australian watchdog ACCC, which has come up with a new code for tech companies - including Facebook and Google - in response to the advertising industry taking a hit during the coronavirus pandemic.

Part of the code calls for firms like Facebook to pay to have news from other publishers on their site in Australia.

However, Zuckerberg is not willing to pay and would much rather pull news from Facebook altogether.

In a statement to ACCC, the company said: "Notwithstanding this reduction in engagement with news content, the past two years have seen [...] increased revenues, suggesting both that news content is highly substitutable with other content for our users and that news does not drive significant long-term value for our business.

"If there were no news content available on Facebook in Australia, we are confident the impact on Facebook's community metrics and revenues in Australia would not be significant."

They added: "It is not healthy nor sustainable to expect that two private companies, Facebook and Google, are solely responsible for supporting a public good and solving the challenges faced by the Australian media industry."

Last year, Facebook invested $300 million into local news.

The social media giant vowed to help out outlets with news programs, partnerships and initiatives.

This included grants for local reporting, newsrooms and improving and growing their partnerships program.

Facebook also introduced the 'Today In' section of the app solely for local news, which gathers all the latest news - including traffic and crime alerts - in cities around the US and Australia.

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