Facebook today made good on its threat to block Australians from accessing or posting news content. The ban includes blocking links to Australian and overseas news publishers. Facebook said the ban was a direct response to the federal government’s news media code legislation, which is expected to become law soon and would require digital platforms …
Facebook today made good on its threat to block Australians from accessing or posting news content. The ban includes blocking links to Australian and overseas news publishers. Facebook said the ban was a direct response to the federal government’s news media code legislation, which is expected to become law soon and would require digital platforms such as Facebook and Google to pay news media companies whose content they host. The move is either a last-ditch attempt to gain concessions in the legislation or a simple cut-and-run by Facebook. The social media giant claims news publishers derive more value from news sharing than Facebook does. This is plausible, as news content makes up only 4% of sharing on the platform, whereas many news sites gain a large fraction of their traffic from Facebook referrals. But this is probably more about flexing some muscle. Facebook may be demonstrating to the Federal government that if it doesn’t like the rules, it can damage national interests. [Read: How do you build a pet-friendly gadget? We asked experts and animal owners] Australians will feel some short-term negative impacts of Facebook’s flex. Certain government Facebook pages, such as those belonging to the Bureau of Meterology and some health department sites, have been caught up in the ban. Facebook says this is due to the wording of the legislation, stating: While Facebook says it will restore non-news pages, the action will put pressure on the government to define more clearly what it means by news content. In the meantime, the move will affect Australians’ access to vital information related to emergencies and the COVID-19 pandemic.
