Facebook on Wednesday announced it started restricting Australian users from viewing or sharing news.
Why you can trust Pocket-lint (Pocket-lint) – Facebook on Wednesday announced it started restricting Australian users from viewing or sharing news. The social network came to this decision due to a proposed law in the country that aims to require Facebook to pay news publishers for content. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happening? Facebook responds to potential regulation by blocking news in AustraliaIt is preventing Australian users and publishers from viewing/sharing newsGoogle made a different decision in response to the proposed law in Australia Facebook is preventing Australian users from accessing news on Facebook, and it’s blocking Facebook Pages from sharing news. Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code is seen as a controversial piece of legislation, and Facebook blames it for its decision to block news in the country. Basically, news outlets say they should be compensated for articles shown on online platforms such as Facebook and Google. Under the proposed law, news outlets could bargain with Facebook and Google for compensation for news content shown on their platforms. A FAQ about the legislation notes the code was created to « address a bargaining power imbalance » between Australian news outlets and online platforms. On 17 February 2021, in response to the pending law, Google struck a deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, ensuring it could show news from that organisation in Australia. Facebook, however, has decided to prevent people from sharing news links around the world.
