Facebook blocks Australian news and they cannot be seen or shared across social media platform. He threatened for a while and has complied: Facebook has blocked the ability to view or share news from Australia for users in the country of Oceania. Both users and media companies can share news articles and related content on Facebook. It is essentially a total ban on all news content that is related to Australia. Reason? Do not pay the media.
Australian authorities have been preparing a major regulatory media that seeks to get internet platforms to pay media outlets to share and use their news. That is, since Facebook makes a profit because users spend time on its social network full of news, it should pay those who create that news. Facebook doesn’t agree with that, and neither does Google.
The bill has already been approved by the Australian House of Representatives and everything indicates that it has enough guaranteed votes to win in the Senate too. If so, Internet platforms will be obliged to pay for the content to the media.
No Australian or Australian news
In response to this new regulation, Facebook has begun making changes, which in this case means not offering any Australian content to Australians. In fact, not even users in other countries will be able to share content that comes from Australian media. Facebook describes four affected groups:
- Australian media: They are not allowed to share or post any content on Facebook pages.
- Australian users: They are not allowed to view or share Australian or international news content.
- International media: Your links cannot be viewed or shared in Australia.
- International users: They are not allowed to view or share Australian news.
The Facebook pages of Australia’s major newspapers right now.
One of Facebook’s arguments for not being in favor of this new regulation is how its platform works. He says that if the media put the news on Facebook it is because it benefits them. According to Facebook, unlike Google that indexes the news automatically, the media voluntarily post it on Facebook.
Google, which also thrives on media content, has decided to strike small deals with Australian media companies. For example, they reached an agreement with News Corp recently. In other parts of the world it has also reached agreements with the media.