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.

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This aligns with the trend of young professionals and millennials using Facebook for networking, socializing, and business-related activities. Similarly, the age group accounted for 20.6%, showing that middle-aged users continued to engage actively with the platform, possibly for staying connected with family, consuming news, and using Facebook Marketplace. Facebook maintained a strong presence in Australia in 2025, with 17.2 million active users, accounting for 64.1% of the total population. The platform’s influence was even greater among eligible users (aged 13 and above), with 75.6% actively using Facebook. This highlights the platform’s role as a preferred social media choice among teenagers and adults alike.

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Our expert reports are thoroughly researched, reliable and current, enabling you to make faster, better business decisions. Ms Rowland has separately flagged plans to announce direct government funding for news media in next week’s mid-year budget update, with no further details as yet. Ambiguity over the rate allows the government to go to the negotiating table with the tech platforms and make a final decision it thinks they will accept.

Facebook, Google and TikTok will be forced to fund Australian journalism, even if they do not host it, under a federal government plan to impose a new tax aimed at encouraging the tech platforms to establish funding agreements with news organisations. The proposed settlement would end a long-running lawsuit prompted by 2018 revelations that Facebook allowed the British political consulting firm to access personal data of millions of users. The age group made up 15.8% of the user base, with slightly more female users (8.5%) than male users (7.3%). This suggests that middle-aged women were slightly more active on Facebook, potentially for community engagement and social interactions.

It comes after Meta agreed to pay $US725 million (about $1 billion) to resolve a class action lawsuit in 2022 over the scandal in the US. Meta will appoint an independent third-party administrator by early next year to notify users who may be eligible. You can add a profile picture and information about yourself, search for people you may know on Facebook, and get to know Facebook’s privacy settings. You’ll learn more about those settings in the Controlling your privacy settings activity coming up next in this course.

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 Wolf Winner Online Casino Australia 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.

  • Affected Facebook users could “apply for a base payment based on generalised concern or embarrassment, or an alternative amount if they can demonstrate specific loss or damage”, the regulator said.
  • Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for the practice, calling it a “mistake” and a “breach of trust”.
  • You can add a profile picture and information about yourself, search for people you may know on Facebook, and get to know Facebook’s privacy settings.
  • Australian Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said the settlement was the “largest ever payment” dedicated to addressing the privacy concerns in Australia.
  • The landmark payment, announced on Tuesday, will end the legal proceedings, and will be paid out next year to potentially tens of thousands of Australian Facebook users.

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”. On that basis, the government does not expect its tax will raise any revenue, seeing it instead as a “backstop” to bring platforms and media outlets to the table. The settlements relate to a Facebook app called This Is Your Digital Life, which collected psychological data of millions of Facebook users and their friends. The information was harvested and sold to Cambridge Analytica, which used it to help the 2016 presidential election campaigns of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for the practice, calling it a “mistake” and a “breach of trust”. In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said it was “an entertainment platform and has never been the go-to place for news. We will actively engage in the consultation process and look forward to hearing more details”.