Facebook fights back against laws

FACEBOOK has blocked Australians from sharing news in a stunning act of retaliation against government moves to make the social media giant pay for Australian journalism.

The move was seen as a milestone in the increasingly frantic jockeying between governments, media and powerful tech companies that one Australian minister called “an assault on a sovereign nation” and abuse of power.

Australia’s government condemned the decision, which also prevented the sharing of some government communications – including messages about emergency services – as well as some commercial pages.

The digital platforms fear that what is happening in Australia will become an expensive precedent that larger countries will follow.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook had taken the drastic action because Canberra’s House of Representatives passed legislation that would make Facebook and Google pay for

Australian journalism. The legislation needs to be passed by the Senate before it becomes law.

Australian news organisations could not post stories and people who tried to share existing news stories received notifications saying they were blocked from doing so.

The message said: “In response to Australian government legislation, Facebook restricts the posting of news links and all posts from news pages in Australia.”

Frydenberg, who said he was given no warning before Facebook acted, added: “Facebook’s actions were unnecessary, they were heavy-handed and they will damage its reputation here in Australia.”