Facebook is facing increasing criticism after blocking news content in Australia during a dispute with the government over a planned law.
The law will force tech giants to pay for news content on their platforms.
Facebook says the law “fundamentally misunderstands” its relationship with publishers.
However, politicians, publishers, and human rights groups in a number of lands have accused it of bullying, and raised concerns over access to information.
Under the new Facebook rules, Australian users are prohibited from viewing and sharing domestic and international news, and local publishers are prohibited from sharing or posting any links on their pages.
Many government health and emergency services pages were also banned, but Facebook later said this was a mistake and many of these pages are back online.
Arrogant And Disappointing
In a statement posted on Facebook, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the social media company’s actions to “unfriend Australia” were “as arrogant as they were disappointing”.
He also said he was “in constant contact with foreign leaders” on the matter and would not be “intimidated”.
Mr Morrison later raised the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as he sought international support, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Some Australian officials have also condemned the move. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the ban on media information “has a huge impact on society”. About 17 million Australians visit the social media site every month. It is the most important social platform for news in the country.
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has accused Facebook of “behaving like a North Korean dictator”.
Others suggested that a news vacuum could be filled by misinformation and conspiracy theories.
The director of Human Rights Watch in Australia said Facebook was not allowing the distribution of information, calling it a “dangerous accident”.
A local campaigner with rights group Amnesty International said it was “extremely concerning that a private company is willing to control access to information that people rely on”.
International Criticism
The move also faced criticism outside of Australia.
Julian Knight, head of Britain’s parliamentary parliamentary committee, called Facebook’s action “a bully”.
“I think it’s staggeringly irresponsible – at a time when we are facing a plethora of fake news and disinformation in relation to the Covid vaccine,” he told the BBC.
“This is not just about Australia. This is Facebook putting a marker down, saying to the world that ‘if you do wish to limit our powers… we can remove what is for many people a utility’.”
The head of the German news agency BDZV said it was “high time that governments all over the world limit the market power of the gatekeeper platforms”.
Many Australian users are also outraged by their sudden loss of access to reliable and authoritative sources.
“It feels obviously very restrictive in what Facebook is going to allow people to do in the future, not only in Australia but around the world,” Peter Firth, in Sydney, told the BBC.
Why Did Facebook Ban News Content In Australia?
Australian authorities say they drew up the legislation to “level the playing field” on profits between the tech giants and struggling publishers. Of every A$100 (£56; $77) spent on digital advertising in Australian media these days, A$81 goes to Google and Facebook.
But Facebook’s local managing director William Easton says the law seeks to “penalise” the company “for content it didn’t take or ask for”.
“The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content. It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter,” Mr Easton wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.
Facebook said it helped Australian publishers earn about A$407m last year through referrals, while “the platform gain from news is minimal”.
Will The Law Go Forward?
Australia’s conservative government is standing by the law – which passed the lower house of parliament on Wednesday. It has broad cross-party support and the Senate is likely to pass it next week.
“We will legislate this code. We want the digital giants paying traditional news media businesses for generating original journalistic content,” said Mr Frydenberg.
Search giant Google is also opposed to the Australian law, but it has now signed payment deals with major media outlets in the country.
