February 23, 2021In Australia, Facebook just shot the hostages. (Metaphorically, of course.)
Australian regulators have been arguing for months that Facebook derives huge value from the news stories shared on its platform and that, as a result, Facebook should be forced to compensate the Australian publishers who create them. As with the Hungarians above, Australia’s play can be simplified to:
We have something you find incredibly valuable, and unless you give us what we want, we can destroy it.
You have a really messed up idea of who finds what valuable here. Here, watch me shoot the hostages and show how illusory your “leverage” really is.