Australia’s world-first law forces social media to pay media outlets for the use of their content.
Facebook has blocked Australians from viewing and sharing news content, escalating the war against Prime Minister Scott Morrison for forcing the social media giant to pay news outlets for content. Instead, Facebook has been universally condemned by Internet users.
The Times reported Feb. 18 that Facebook took action just hours after Australia’s parliament passed what the government says is the world’s first law forcing social media companies to pay media outlets for the use of their content. The laws are expected to take effect as early as next week.
Morrison said Facebook had “cancelled its friendship with Australia” and that its actions were arrogant and bullying and would only amplify international concerns about the power of mega-technology companies.
In a statement, Morrison said, “We will not be deterred by this bullying behavior by big tech companies, (tech companies like Facebook) seeking to pressure Parliament as it votes on our important News Media Bargaining Code.”
He added, “These actions, only confirm that more and more countries are expressing concern about the behavior of big tech companies that think they are bigger than the government and that the rules shouldn’t apply to them. They may be changing the world, but that doesn’t mean they should be running it.”
In a post to its 14 million Australian users explaining why they can no longer share or see news, Facebook said it was acting reluctantly. It said the new law misunderstood the relationship between Facebook and the publishers who use it to share news content.
Under the new law, news companies and social media companies, are required to try to agree on payment for news content that is linked across social media platforms. If they can’t agree, an independent arbitrator can determine the size of the payment.
18 Facebook’s stunning retreat from Australia appears to have backfired after the Facebook blacklist, which means users can no longer see a range of important public health sites through social media platforms. Some believe democracy is being undermined after the page of Western Australia’s opposition leader was purged just three weeks after election day.
Late on the 18th, Facebook began restoring partial access to emergency and health services content after a harsh reaction from Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who has been in talks with the technology company for months and spoke with Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on the morning of the 18th.
Frydenberg told reporters that Facebook’s move was wrong and demonstrated “the tremendous market power of these digital giants. He added, however, that his conversation with Zuckerberg was “very cordial,” adding, “We want them to stay in Australia, but we also want them to pay for original content.”
Peter Lewis, director of Australia’s Centre for Responsible Technology, said Facebook’s decision to remove fact-based journalism from the global Wuhan virus pandemic was a breathtaking act of corporate arrogance, noting that it was a “very big deal. He noted that nearly a third of Australians use Facebook as their primary news source.
“If you’re trying to do an experiment to see what the world would look like without facts – we may be about to see,” he wrote on The Australian’s website.
The Financial Times says Australian health experts criticized Facebook’s decision to block access to important information during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Julie Leask, a professor at the University of Sydney’s School of Nursing, said, “The timing couldn’t have been worse. Three days before the launch of our Covid-19 vaccine, Australians who use Facebook as their primary news source could no longer get credible information about vaccination from news outlets and the web pages of some government and public health organizations.”
Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), said her organization was wrongly blocked by the platform. She wrote on Twitter, “Australian workers are now unable to learn about their rights at work through Facebook. This is shameful and needs to be restored immediately.”
Facebook said it would “restrict Australian publishers and people from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content.” The decision includes blocking all Australian news outlets from posting on the site globally.
Facebook’s Australian boss, William Easton, said the new law leaves the platform “with a tough choice. He said Facebook could try to comply with a law that ignores the “realities” of its relationship with Australian publishers, or stop allowing news content to be posted on its Australian service. With a heavy heart, he said, “we chose the latter.”
Easton believes that Facebook has generated some 5.1 billion free referrals for Australian publishers.
Unlike Facebook, Google has been signing multimillion-dollar deals over the past few days, spurred by new Australian laws, to pay media companies for news content that will appear on Google Showcase.
Google reached the global agreement with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, defusing a long-running dispute between the media conglomerate and the search company. The different approaches by tech groups mark a watershed moment for the media industry.
Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom have all said they are considering similar measures.
Netizens support Australian government
An Australian reader wrote to a news organization saying, “We are a sovereign nation and Zuckerberg is not our prime minister. Who does this sissy think he is, holding the Australian government hostage as if Facebook is the final approver of our laws and regulations, or what?”
Another wrote: “Every country should do this. The lobbying power of these big tech companies is huge, so it’s very difficult to do this.”
One user said, “Facebook’s behavior is outrageous. Imagine thinking you could reprint news for free. Good to see Australia fighting the bullies again.”
The netizen replied, “Stop another source of ‘fake news’ which peddles its fake website in Australia. People can live comfortably without Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.”
Others said, “Well done, Australia! — If we want to read the news, we’ll buy the newspaper. The shift from pushing news to pulling news is long overdue and it will reduce a great deal of anxiety.”
Also a Brit said, “We need to do the same in the UK. Too much fake news can be put on Facebook. Leave the news to the regular news outlets.”
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