Facebook bites the hand that feeds it and blocks Australians from viewing news

Facebook has blocked Australians from accessing news on its network. The social network has taken down government pages, news media and more in what seems like an effort to strongarm the federal government to capitulate over the News Media Bargaining Code.

As Australians woke to find they had been blocked from accessing Australian news in their feeds, Facebook posted a lengthy blog outlining its reasons for taking this stance.

William Easton, Managing Director, Facebook Australia & New Zealand said the social network had made the tough decision to restrict people from viewing Australian news on its network. The social media giant will also block Australians from viewing international news in their feeds.

“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,” Easton wrote.

In reasoning the social network’s stance, Easton said the proposed law ignored the “value exchange between Facebook and publishers.

“…publishers willingly choose to post news on Facebook, as it allows them to sell more subscriptions, grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue.

In fact, and as we have made clear to the Australian government for many months, the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favor of the publishers — which is the reverse of what the legislation would require the arbitrator to assume. Last year Facebook generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated AU$407 million.

“For Facebook, the business gain from news is minimal. News makes up less than 4 per cent of the content people see in their News Feed.

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