Meta challenges Australia plan for news payments

June 5, 2026

Summary

Meta said Australia’s proposed levy on digital platforms to fund news outlets was unfair and may breach a U.S. trade agreement.

Why this matters

The proposal could reshape how large tech platforms pay for news in Australia and affect the finances of local media outlets. It also raises questions about trade obligations and how governments support journalism as advertising revenue declines.

Meta said Thursday that Australia’s proposed News Bargaining Incentive, which would require major digital platforms to support media outlets financially, was “poorly designed” and “grossly unfair.”

In a submission to the government, the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp parent company said the plan would shield publishers from the pressure to adapt to a changing media market.

“The NBI does the opposite: it insulates publishers from the competitive pressure to evolve by guaranteeing revenue regardless of whether they build sustainable business models,” Meta said. “This entrenches dependency at the very moment when adaptation matters most.”

Meta also said the “economically incoherent” proposal would not create a sustainable news sector and “plainly” violated Australia’s commitments under its free trade agreement with the United States.

“A strong, independent media cannot be built on punitive taxes, levied on foreign companies, with no connection to the value exchanged,” the company said.

Under the center-left Labor government’s proposal, social media and search platforms would face a 2.25% levy on Australian revenue if they do not reach deals to pay Australian outlets for news content. Platforms that meet a minimum number of commercial agreements could lower the effective rate to 1.5%.

Revenue from the levy would be distributed to media outlets based on the number of journalists they employ.

The proposal targets Meta, Google, and TikTok owner ByteDance, but would not apply to artificial intelligence developers that also affect search traffic, such as OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

The government said the measure, which must be approved by Parliament, would raise 200 million to 250 million Australian dollars, or about $143 million to $178 million, for local media outlets.

The proposal would replace the previous government’s News Bargaining Code, which Meta and other tech companies avoided by removing news content from their platforms.

Australia’s media sector has been hit by falling advertising revenue. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the country’s main media union, said more than 19,500 journalism jobs have been lost since 2008.

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North Carolina lawmakers questioned state and Mecklenburg County officials Thursday after a review of the 2025 death of 6-year-old Dominique Moody found repeated missed opportunities by child welfare workers.

Investigators said Dominique, who died in December 2025 in Charlotte, weighed 27 pounds and was found in a dog crate after years of abuse and starvation. Her legal guardian and two other caregivers face charges including felony child abuse and first-degree murder.

At a House Oversight Committee hearing, state officials said 13 abuse or neglect allegations involving Dominique had been reported over the years. At one point, a caseworker recommended removing her from the home, but a supervisor overruled that decision. Referrals to other agencies were not followed up on.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said a review found numerous violations of state law, rules, and policy in Mecklenburg County’s child welfare practice.

Lawmakers also pressed law enforcement officials. Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said his office had not interacted with anyone in the home since December 2023. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson said a criminal referral from social services was later screened out after a home visit.

Mecklenburg County Manager Mike Bryant said 12 people were placed on administrative review, disciplinary action had been taken, and he was recommending 22 new positions for the social services agency. Interim Director Letecia Loadholt said 94 investigators were handling 1,021 open investigations and 654 new cases, with workers averaging 17 cases each.
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Maui woman charged with illegal voting in Hawaii

If convicted, she faces up to one year in prison on each charge, a term of supervised release, and a fine of up to $100,000.

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A 66-year-old Maui woman was charged Monday with two misdemeanor counts of unlawfully voting as an alien in federal elections, according to federal court records.

Remedios A. Alasaas of Kahului is scheduled to make her initial appearance Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry M. Kurren.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Alasaas entered the United States in 2014 on an immigrant visa from the Philippines and later registered to vote. Prosecutors said she was not a U.S. citizen when she voted in the Nov. 8, 2022, general election for U.S. House and Senate races and again in the Aug. 10, 2024, primary election for president, vice president, and U.S. House and Senate races.

“On both occasions, Alasaas understood that she was not a citizen at the time that she cast her ballot,” U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said in a statement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Paris Yates is prosecuting it.

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Most infections involved unvaccinated people.

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Virginia’s measles count rose to 77 this year, with most cases concentrated in Central Virginia around Buckingham County, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Most cases were among babies and children younger than 12.

During a visit to Virginia on Wednesday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recommended measles vaccines as a key preventive measure.

Kennedy’s comments followed testimony he gave to Congress in late April. They marked a shift from his response during a measles outbreak in Texas last year, when he did not recommend vaccination and instead advised Americans to “do your own research.”

Kennedy said new measles cases were “happening all over the world.”

“At (the Center for Disease Control and Prevention), we encourage people to get their measles vaccination,” he added. “That’s the best way to prevent yourself from getting measles.”

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Virginia law now allows only nine localities — Danville and the counties of Charlotte, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Patrick, and Pittsylvania — to levy a 1% sales tax for school projects. Virginia’s Dillon Rule limits local powers to those granted by the General Assembly.

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HHS cuts Hawaii fraud unit funds, state seeks review

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Hawaii stood to lose about $3 million in annual federal funding for its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit after the Trump administration denied the unit federal certification, according to a letter sent Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general.

In the letter to Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez, Inspector General March Bell said the unit had no criminal indictments or convictions for Medicaid fraud or patient abuse and neglect from 2022 to 2025. Bell wrote that without a federally certified unit, the state’s broader Medicaid funding could be at risk.

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Department of Human Services Director Joseph Campos II said, “The Medicaid program provides essential healthcare coverage to hundreds of thousands of Hawaii residents and we want our members, providers and community partners to know that their benefits and services will continue without interruption.”

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Japan man gets prison for illegal gun-parts exports

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U.S. District Judge Micah W.J. Smith also sentenced Shota Yamamoto to unsupervised release and a $100 special assessment. Yamamoto must forfeit 1,028 firearm parts and tactical gear, including 200 charging handles for AR-15 rifles, 45 Anderson Manufacturing AR-15 upper receivers, three Sig Sauer upper receivers, and two ballistic helmets.

Yamamoto pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to conspiracy to export goods from the United States to Japan without first obtaining required licenses from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. He admitted in January that he helped establish an illegal supply chain for rifle parts and had faced up to 20 years in prison. He asked the court for a sentence of one year and one day.

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A South Carolina law taking effect Oct. 1 will tax vapes and direct the revenue to Medicaid, as cigarette tax collections decline with fewer people smoking.

The law, signed by Gov. Henry McMaster two weeks ago, also cuts in half the tax on electronic cigarettes that use tobacco rather than liquid nicotine. The change prepares for sales of heated tobacco products that are not currently sold in South Carolina stores.

Starting Oct. 1, vapes will be taxed at 5 cents per milliliter, similar to rates in North Carolina and Georgia.

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The State Grand Jury indicted the two managers on charges of identity fraud to obtain employment, criminal conspiracy, and forgery. Four other people were charged with forgery and identity fraud under allegations they created and sold false documents to workers; all but one had been arrested as of Thursday, officials said.

Attorney General Alan Wilson said the investigation, called Operation Ghost Story, began in October 2024 after local law enforcement asked the attorney general’s office and the State Law Enforcement Division for help. Wilson said investigators used undercover work and witness statements to conclude the plant’s managers hired workers multiple times under different names, suggesting they knew the documents were false.

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Onslow County court records showed that Joseph Michael Ray, 41, was arrested June 4 in connection with an incident that investigators said happened May 29.

Authorities said Ray entered an occupied home on Shamrock Drive and assaulted two people with a kitchen knife. He was charged with first-degree burglary and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

Court documents also said Ray violated a domestic violence protective order by entering the home and standing over a sleeping occupant while holding the knife.

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