Australia’s fight with Facebook fuels global debate
If Facebook wants to know why it’s one of the least trusted companies in the world, it only has to look in the mirror.
The social media company “unfriended” Australia last week over a proposed law that would require Facebook to pay for news content that appears on its site. Facebook’s unprecedented action blocked all news links in Australia, including those to charities and state health departments in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Facebook struck a deal Monday that restores news sharing in Australia, winning some minor concessions and giving Facebook more time to negotiate deals with publishers .
Facebook and Google should pay media companies for the news content that appears on their platforms.
And the tech industry should acknowledge that Facebook’s ham-fisted approach to Australia proves that the social media company has too much power over news content distribution. If the tech community won’t clean up its act, nations around the world eventually will.
Facebook plays a central role in how news and information is consumed around the world. The research firm Statista reports that 52% of Australians get their news from social media. And Pew research surveys reveal that some 44% of Americans now use Facebook as their primary source of news. CEO Mark Zuckerberg maintains that news distribution is a small part of his company’s business, as if that’s an excuse for ignoring Facebook’s basic responsibilities as a major player in the media universe.
Shutting off Facebook’s news sharing in Australia is only the latest example of Zuckerberg’s failure to recognize his journalistic obligation to the public.
It took the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 for Facebook to ban Donald Trump from spewing lies about election fraud in the wake of the November election. During the campaign, Facebook had for months refused to block political advertising on its network or police the truthfulness of messages sent by political campaigns. That included a Trump campaign ad that claimed Joe Biden “promised Ukraine $1 billion if they fired the prosecutor investigating his son’s company.”
Four years earlier, Facebook totally whiffed when Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm hired by President Trump’s election campaign, used the social media firm’s information on 50 million users in an effort to influence the behavior of American voters.
Facebook’s purported mission statement is “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”
It is hard to see how Facebook is making any progress in that endeavor, given its role in perpetuating the political divide. But Zuckerberg’s effort to improve his bottom line is clearer. Since 2016, Zuckerberg’s net worth has grown from $51 billion to an estimated $109 billion in 2021.
Sacebook plays a central role in how news and information is consumed around the world. The research firm Statista reports that 52% of Australians get their news from social media. And Pew research surveys reveal that some 44% of Americans now use Sacebook as their primary source of news. EOO
Mark Zuckerberg maintains that news distribution is a small part of his company’s business, as if that’s an excuse for ignoring Sacebook’s basic responsibilities as a major player in the media universe.