04 September 2020 - Facebooks threatens to block Australians from sharing news
Facebook threatens news sharing ban in Australia
(BBC News, 01/08/2020)
Facebook has threatened to stop users from sharing news content in Australia as it prepares for a new law forcing it to pay publishers for their articles.
Regulators want tech giants like Facebook and Google to pay for the content reposted from news outlets.
Last month Google warned its users that its search services could be "dramatically worse" as a result.
Facebook's latest move to block news sharing has escalated tensions between tech firms and regulators.
Facebook Could Block Sharing of News Stories in Australia
Daisuke Wakabayashi and Mike Isaac (The New York Times, 31/08/2020)
With each passing day, the World Wide Web is becoming an outdated name.
Facebook warned on Monday that it would block users and news organizations in Australia from sharing local and international news stories on its social network and Instagram if the country passed a proposed code of conduct aimed at curbing the power of Facebook and Google.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the country’s top competition authority, is drafting a bill for Parliament that would require both companies to negotiate with media publishers and pay them for content that appears on their sites.
Facebook's threat to block Australians from sharing news is a premature overreaction
Allan Fels (The Guardian, 02/07/2020)
Within the lively debate – some might even call it a “shouting match” – about the ACCC’s draft news media and digital platforms mandatory bargaining code, the issue at the core of its development is in danger of losing its way.
The need for the code is that the digital platforms have massive bargaining power compared with media organisations big and small. They are unfairly exploiting it to their advantage and not paying for content, to the detriment of public interest journalism, a cornerstone of our democratic society.
This market imbalance was the conclusion of July 2019 final report of the ACCC digital platforms inquiry, a conclusion with which the government also agreed.
If Facebook really pulls news from its Australian sites, we’ll have a much less compelling product
Rob Nicholls (The Conversation, 01/09/2020)
Facebook has announced it will ban publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram if a proposal to force tech giants to pay for news becomes law.
The announcement follows the release of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s draft news media bargaining code, under which Google and Facebook would be forced to pay for news on their sites to help fund public interest journalism. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced in April the code would be mandatory.