Meta’s exit from the bargaining code would remove about $70 million of funding a year for publishers,and would likely lead to job cuts across Nine’s newsrooms,including this masthead,Sneesby warned on Friday.

“Most certainly,if the deals aren’t renewed across the industry,we will see pressure on jobs,” he said. “Obviously,media companies are not looking for a free kick. We just want a level playing field.”

News Corp has already beguncutting costs across several divisions,a response to a weaker advertising cycle,and the expected loss of revenue from Meta.

Miller,who presented a similar argument during a National Press Club appearance this month,argued that social media platforms should be forced out of the Australian market if they refused to play by local rules.

“If they don’t want to play by our rules,I think we ban them,” he said.

“Other companies that don’t want to play by Australian rules and laws can’t operate here,whether it be mining companies,whether it be telcos,we have rules in place. If they don’t want to play by Australian laws and protect Australian values,then why do we want them here?”

The three executives were forced to defend their own companies’ impact on society. All three refused to say whether they should be forced to abide by similar codes of conduct relating to disinformation and misinformation.

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