I woke last Thursday to learn that Facebook had blocked news content in Australia. That this was imminent was no surprise. Many of us had been expecting this in response to the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code. But the breadth and severity of what occurred was brutal.
The content blocked was not only that of large media companies. Public interest, not-for-profit, and religious media many of whom rely heavily on Facebook to share messages with their readers, were blocked as well.
Government departments, charities and essential information services all found their pages empty.
Jesuit Communications Australia publishes Australian Catholics, Madonna and Eureka Street. As a Jesuit Ministry, our purpose and mission is not only one of service to the Catholic community but also one of accompaniment of those at the margins, people who are pushed to the edge of society, who seek protection, who live with mental illness, who are unemployed.
The Federal Government will divert its planned COVID vaccine advertising spend from Facebook, as the Senate begins debating the news media bargaining code.
analysis
The Facebook news ban revealed how problematic it is to rely on corporations to provide fundamental public services
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SatSaturday 20
Facebook harvests our personal data in unimaginable quantities, Gareth Hutchens writes.
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The fog lifted for a moment.
Community groups, charities, sport clubs, arts centres, unions and emergency services all rely on the social media giant.
Its platform plays the role of an important public messaging board.
But in a country with so little civil society infrastructure, our heavy reliance on a corporation to provide such a fundamental public service is deeply problematic.
Facebook, Inc. doesn t care about your fundraiser or political protest.