CANBERRA, June 19 (Reuters) - Facebook owner Meta

considers itself above the law, Australia's financial

services minister told Reuters, adding that anticompetitive

behaviour by social media firms was harming economies and

democracy worldwide.

Stephen Jones, who is assistant treasurer, also said the

U.S. tech giant which owns Instagram and WhatsApp was a

"corporate bully" for saying in March that it would quit

licensing deals with Australian news media.

"I think Meta like to operate as if they are not bound by

the laws of the countries in which they operate, unless it is

convenient to them," Jones said in an interview.

"That's not a sustainable business model for any company

anywhere in the world, particularly if you want to operate in

democratic countries like ours."

A Meta spokesperson was not immediately available for

comment.

Jones' comments reflect an increasingly antagonistic

relationship between the first country to force internet giants

to pay for news content hosted on their platforms and the

world's biggest social media company.

Vowing to make any business operating in Australia comply

with Australian laws, he said he was still considering applying

a new law that would allow a government-appointed arbitrator to

decide how much Meta would pay the media for content posted on

its sites.

Before deciding whether to step between Meta and the media,

which wants government intervention, Jones must take advice from

the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the body

which oversaw the creation of the News Media Bargaining Code,

and the treasury department.

He said he was yet to receive treasury department advice,

but "we will take all the steps that are necessary for us to

protect the national interest".

After Canada introduced a similar law in 2023, Meta blocked

links to news content in the country instead of paying for them,

resulting in a surge of misinformation, according to studies.

Jones wouldn't say if he expected similar in Australia, but

pointed to a wide-ranging government project to curb social,

economic and democratic harms caused by social media.

Jones said his office was talking to several prominent

Australians, including mining magnate Andrew Forrest who is

fighting Meta in a U.S. court over thousands of scam

cryptocurrency advertisements which have appeared on the

platform featuring his face.