have warned that young Australians will turn to ill-informed but opinionated influencers if Meta blocks news from its platforms, as the Instagram-led outlet faces the prospect of losing touch with half a million of its followers.
The Daily Aus founders Zara Seidler and Sam Koslowski say they’ve spent three years building audiences off Meta’s platforms to prepare for the worst.gets from Instagram is in serious jeopardy. There is a very real possibility Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, will take the nuclear option and block news on its platforms in coming months.
Ms Seidler and Mr Koslowski say a news ban would “influence future hiring decisions” but they insist the publication would survive. Their gravest concerns are about where younger Aussies will get their news if a ban does go ahead.“I think it’ll be disastrous. We’ll see a rise of influencer-led commentary – I imagine Meta won’t include those accounts in a blanket ban,” Ms Seidler says.