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Adam Morton, managing partner of client services at creative media agency UM London, leads us through just what happened over the last few weeks when Australia lost news from Facebook.
As crowds returned to Melbourne Park to watch powerful tennis heats at the Australian Open, another battle down-under stole the headlines (literally). Facebook, in response to the ACCC News Media Bargaining Code looking to tax tech giants for publishing links to news sites, suddenly removed news content from its platform in Australia.
This long-running contest over online news is complex, with money, power and the fundamentals of the internet all part of the game. It’s a difficult one for all players to manage, which might explain some of the questionable tactics that have been employed throughout the match to date.
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Sputnik International
Blank pages and empty news feeds as Facebook news goes dark in Australia
By Reuters
Byron Kaye
Sydney - Australians woke to empty news feeds on their Facebook Inc pages on Thursday after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a dispute with the government over paying for content.
The move was swiftly criticised by news producers, politicians and human rights advocates, particularly as it became clear that official health pages, emergency safety warnings and welfare networks had all been scrubbed from the site along with news. Facebook was wrong, Facebook s actions were unnecessary, they were heavy-handed, and they will damage its reputation here in Australia, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told a televised news conference.
Facebook blocks news content in Australia
February 20, 2021
The BBC Facebook page, as seen in Australia. (Alyce Collett/YJI)
Melbourne, Australia – Facebook took a huge step this week in its battle with the Australian government, blocking access to content from news outlets for anyone in Australia.
Facebook and Google have been battling with the Australian federal government over proposed legislation to make the technology giants pay for Australian news content on their platforms.
The legislation, colloquially known as the ‘Media Bargaining Code,’ would see companies like Facebook and Google have to negotiate with media companies about how much the tech companies must pay media companies for their news content, according to the ABC.