Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce says internet giants such as Facebook and Google should be forced to do their own political journalism or pay massive levies to fund investigative reporting by other media outlets.

Mr Joyce also called for an overhaul of the country's defamation laws, which he called "a farce", saying he could not afford to pay legal fees when he wanted to sue for defamation in the past.

"We're the cheapest actors of any soap opera in the world, us politicians - just as Sky [News]," said Barnaby Joyce. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The former Nationals leader said Facebook, Google and other online platforms should be required to have reporters in the federal parliamentary press gallery and in regional areas, and produce their own content. If they didn't, they should face a significant levy which would be used to fund public interest journalism.

"If they're collecting money from the Australian economy, they have a responsibility back to the Australian political process," Mr Joyce told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age.