In surprise move, Facebook blocks news access in Australia, draws ire
Social media giant’s action comes ahead of law requiring tech firms to pay for news
SYDNEY: Dozens of Australian companies, charities and information providers reacted with anger on Thursday after being shut down by Facebook, imploring the social media giant to restore their pages as calls for users to delete the platform grew.
Australians were blocked from accessing news in their Facebook feeds after an escalation of the proposed media bargaining code, which would require the company and Google to reach commercial deals with news outlets whose links drive traffic to their platforms. But several charities and pages of official health, meteorology and emergency services were also blocked, along with smaller, niche content providers.
Foodbank Australia, one of the many charities caught in the crossfire, said Facebook’s response was “unacceptable”.
“Hours matter when you have nothing to eat. SORT THIS OUT!” CEO Brianna Casey tweeted.
Save the Children CEO Paul Ronalds said the charity had come to rely on the platform to communicate with supporters and members. “We also use Facebook as an important fundraising tool to reach generous supporters who want to support the world’s most vulnerable children,” he said.
Facebook restored the government services pages by afternoon, but there were still small businesses and community groups who were left venting, with #facebooknewsban and #DeleteFacebook trending on microblogging site Twitter.
Australia’s government condemned the tech giant, which also blocked messages about emergency services, and some commercial pages.
The digital platforms fear that what’s happening in Australia will become an expensive precedent for other countries as governments revamp laws to catch up with the fast changing digital world.
Facebook acted after the House of Representatives passed legislation that would make it and Google pay for Australian journalism, said treasurer Josh Frydenberg. He said he was given no warning before Facebook acted. The legislation must be passed by the Senate to become law. Australian news organisations could not post stories and people who tried to share existing news stories got notifications saying they were blocked from doing so .
“This post can’t be shared,” the website said. “In response to Australian government legislation, Facebook restricts the posting of news links and all posts from news Pages in Australia. Globally, the posting and sharing of news links from Australian publications is restricted.”
The legislation mentioned by the notice has not yet been enacted. “Facebook’s actions were unnecessary, they were heavy-handed and they will damage its reputation here in Australia,” Frydenberg said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison lashed out on his own Facebook page. “Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing,” Morrison posted.
For its part, Facebook said on Thursday it blocked media content in Australia because the draft law did not provide clear guidance on the definition of news content and said its commitment to combat misinformation had not changed.
“The actions we’re taking are focused on restricting publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content,” a company spokesman said. “As the law does not provide clear guidance on the definition of news content, we have taken a broad definition in order to respect the law as drafted. However, we will reverse any Pages that are inadvertently impacted.”