An inquiry has been told that Facebook’s potential news ban is already affecting smaller Australian media outlets.

Smaller publishers are already feeling the effects of a potential news ban on Facebook, a parliamentary committee has heard, as both small and large news outlets argue for social media companies to be required to pay for news content.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced in March that it would not enter into new agreements with news companies to pay for news, following the expiration of contracts signed in 2021 under the Morrison government’s news media bargaining code.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones is considering whether the Albanese government should invoke the powers of the news media bargaining code to “designate” Meta, which would force the tech company to negotiate payments with news providers or face fines of 10% of its Australian revenue.