Facebook blocks Australian users from viewing or sharing news
Facebook has blocked Australian users from sharing or viewing news content on the platform, causing much alarm about public access to key information.
Australians woke up on Thursday to find that the Facebook pages of all local and global news sites were unavailable.
Several government health, emergency, and other pages were also blocked on Thursday, something the tech giant later claimed was a mistake.
The Australian government said the ban threatened Facebook’s “credibility.”
Those outsides of Australia are also unable to read or access any Australian news posts on the platform.
Facebook’s move is in response to a proposed law in Australia that would make tech giants pay for news content.
Australia vs tech companies: what is this row about?
Companies like Google and Facebook have argued that the law does not reflect how the Internet works and unfairly “penalizes” their platforms.
The Australian government has said it is proceeding with the law, which was approved by the lower house of parliament on Wednesday.
“Facebook needs to think very carefully about what this means for its reputation and prestige,” Communications Minister Paul Fletcher told ABC.
Facebook’s action came hours after Google agreed to pay Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for content on his media empire’s news sites.
Why is Facebook doing this?
Australia’s competition regulator said it had crafted the laws to “level the playing field” between tech giants and publishers on profits.
But Facebook said the law left it “faced with a tough choice: try to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia.”
“With great regret, we are choosing the latter,” he said in a blog post.
Australian publishers are also prohibited from sharing or posting links on their Facebook pages. The national broadcaster, ABC, and newspapers like The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian have millions of followers.
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Facebook said it helped Australian publishers earn around A $ 407 million (£ 228 million; $ 316 million) last year through referrals, but for itself “the profit from the news platform it’s minimal. ”
The law sought to “penalize Facebook for content it did not take or ask for,” said the company’s local CEO William Easton.
What happened to the government sites?
The Facebook change also denied Australians access to the pages of many key government agencies, including police and emergency services, health departments, and the Bureau of Meteorology.
Other pages of charities, politicians, sports groups, and other non-news organizations were also affected.
Later, Facebook issued a statement saying that these pages had been “inadvertently impacted” and would be reinstated, although it did not give a deadline.
A spokesperson said the company had “adopted a broad definition” of the term “news content” in the law.
How have Australians responded?
The ban sparked an immediate backlash, with many Australians angered by their sudden loss of access to trusted and authoritative sources.
Several pointed out that Facebook was a crucial way for people to receive emergency news updates on pandemic and national disaster situations.
“Obviously, it feels very restrictive in what Facebook will allow people to do in the future, not just in Australia but around the world,” Sydney’s Peter Firth told the BBC.
Another, Amelia Marshall, said she could not believe the company’s decision “in the midst of a pandemic,” adding: “I have made the decision, a long time ago, to permanently delete my Facebook account.”
The director of Human Rights Watch in Australia said Facebook was censoring the flow of information in the country, calling it a “dangerous turn of events.”
“Cutting off access to vital information to an entire country in the dead of night is unthinkable,” said Elaine Pearson.
What is the government doing?
Australia’s conservative government adheres to the law, which will be debated again in parliament today. It has wide support between parties.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg tweeted that he had a “constructive” discussion with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday.
“He [Mr. Zuckerberg] raised some outstanding issues with the government’s media bargaining code and we agreed to continue our conversation to try to find a way forward,” he said.
Facebook wants to call the shots
Australia is not a great market for Facebook. And Facebook says the news isn’t a great revenue driver for the company. So why does this law matter so much to you?
This is much more about the beginning. Other countries have been watching what is happening in Australia. There is speculation that Canada, including the EU, could follow Australia’s lead, something Facebook wants to avoid.
Facebook already pays for some news. It has entered into trade agreements with media companies in the UK, for example.
What Facebook wants to do, however, is make the decisions.
Its executives don’t want governments to intervene, telling them they have to pay for the news and even setting the price.
Facebook, then, has decided to show that there are consequences for governments if they want to crack down hard against Big Tech.
But that could backfire spectacularly. The fact that Facebook can essentially shut down Australian news on its platform is already being criticized as undemocratic, even authoritarian, in some quarters.
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.