tech2 News StaffFeb 18, 2021 9:28:05 AM IST
Facebook has announced that it has banned Australians from viewing and sharing news on the platform as laws have been proposed in the country to make digital giants pay for journalism. Australian publishers can still post news content on Facebook, but links and posts cannot be viewed or shared by the Australian audience, the US-based company said in a statement. Australian users cannot share Australian or international news. International users outside of Australia also cannot share Australian messages.
“The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and the publishers who use it to share news content. We are faced with a difficult decision: try to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship or stop news content on Our services in Australia. It is with a heavy heart that we choose the latter, “wrote William Easton, Managing Director of Facebook Australia & New Zealand, in a blog entry.
Easton also wrote that it tried to make it clear to the Australian government that the exchange of values between Facebook and publishers is in favor of publishers. He added, “For Facebook, the business gain from news is minimal. News makes up less than 4 percent of the content people see on their news feed.”
Easton says that after three years of talking with the Australian government, they failed to reach consensus. “Instead, it tries to punish Facebook for content that it has not taken or requested.”
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The announcement comes one day after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg described the negotiations between Facebook and Google with Australian media companies as “very promising”.
After talks over the weekend with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, managing director of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google, Frydenberg said he was convinced that the platforms “want to make these commercial agreements.”
Frydenberg said he had a “constructive discussion” with Zuckerberg after Facebook blocked Australian messages.
“He addressed some remaining issues with the government news media’s negotiating code, and we agreed to continue our conversation to find a way forward,” Frydenberg tweeted.
However, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the government would not take back its legislative agenda.
“This announcement by Facebook would of course call into question the credibility of the platform in terms of the news if it maintained that position,” Fletcher told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“Facebook is effectively telling Australians that any information you see on our platforms does not come from organizations that have editorial policies or fact-checking processes in place, or from journalists who are paid for their work,” added Fletcher.
The Australian Parliament is debating bills that would force the two platforms to close deals to pay for Australian news.
The Senate will review the bills after they were passed by the House of Representatives late Wednesday.
Both platforms have condemned the proposed laws as impractical. Google has also threatened to remove its search engine from the country.
However, Google is making pay deals with Australian news media companies under its own news showcase model.
Seven West Media on Monday was the The largest Australian news media company signs a deal with Google pay for journalism.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has since announced a far-reaching deal.
Rival Nine Entertainment is reportedly on the verge of its own pact and ABC is also in negotiations.
News plays a bigger role in Google’s business model than in Facebook’s business model.
Easton said the public would ask why the platforms would react differently to the proposed law, which would set up an arbitration tribunal to set a price for news if the platforms and the news business disagreed.
“The answer is that our platforms have radically different relationships with news,” said Easton.
Peter Lewis, director of the think tank at the Australia Institute Center for Responsible Technology, said Facebook’s decision will “make it a weaker social network”.
“Facebook actions mean that the company’s shortcomings in privacy, disinformation and privacy protection require increased pressure on stronger government regulation,” said Lewis. “Without fact-based news to anchor it, Facebook becomes little more than cute cats and conspiracy theories.”
With contributions from The Associated Press
