SYDNEY, June 28 (Reuters) - Facebook owner Meta

is considering blocking news content from the platform in

Australia if the government makes it pay licensing fees, a

company representative told a parliamentary hearing on Friday.

Meta's regional policy director Mia Garlick told lawmakers

"all options are on the table" when asked if the company would

block Australians from sharing news content to avoid paying

fees.

"There's a large number of channels that people can get news

content from," Garlick told the inquiry.

She said Meta was waiting for Canberra to decide if it would

apply an untested 2021 law which gives the government the right

to set the fees U.S. tech giants pay media outlets for links.

The comments are the strongest indication so far that Meta

would take the same hardline approach in Australia it took in

Canada in 2023 when that country introduced similar laws.

Meta struck deals with Australian media firms including News

Corp ( NWSA ) and the Australian Broadcasting Corp when the law

was brought in Australia, but has since said it will not renew

those arrangements beyond 2024.

It now falls on Australia's assistant treasurer to decide

whether to step in and force Facebook to pay for news content.

The assistant treasurer has said he is still collecting advice

but that Meta seems to respect the law only when it suits.

Asked if blocking news from Facebook in Australia would

amount to sidestepping the law, Garlick said taking that action

would be complying with it.

"Every other law - tax laws, safety laws, privacy laws - we

work to comply with," she said. "It's just compliance would look

slightly different in relation to this law if it's fully

enacted."

Garlick defended Meta's processes for Australians to

complain if they believed the company was spreading harmful

misinformation or scams, although she said its content

moderation centres were all in other countries.

Asked about Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest,

who is suing Meta for showing cryptocurrency scam advertisements

featuring his face, Garlick said the company had processes in

place to detect and stop scams, but "there are a lot of

challenges".

How could Meta call itself an advertising business when

"some ads sell lies", asked Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

"We have policies and systems and tools to do everything we

can to prevent those ads," Garlick replied.