A proposed law from the Land Down Under did not go over well with Facebook.
Facebook has decided to block all news in and from Australian users in response to a proposed law that would require the platform to pay news publishers for stories that appear on Facebook.
“In response to Australia’s proposed new Media Bargaining law, Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content,” said William Easton, Facebook’s Managing Director, Facebook Australia & New Zealand in a blog post.
“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 continued.
Easton further alleged that “independent experts and analysts around the world” raised concerns about Australia’s proposal.
Facebook has apparently decided to tackle this issue the only way it knows how: by censoring. “People and news organisations in Australia are now restricted from posting news links and sharing or viewing Australian and international news content on Facebook. Globally, posting and sharing news links from Australian publishers is also restricted,” said Easton.
Australia's proposed law “would give Google and Facebook 90 days to reach licensing agreements with qualifying Australian publishers for the news content that appears on Google's search and Facebook's feed,” according to CNET.
The liberal media, as it is prone to do, has freaked out about Facebook’s decision.
“This Australia business is proving to be far from Facebook's finest hour. They seem to have closed UK Sky News page. https://facebook.com/skynews,” tweeted Alistair Coleman, a BBC fake news & North Korea media analyst.
“Why isn’t this some sort of last straw against Facebook and the unholy leadership of Mark Zuckerberg. It’s time for @Facebook to be dismantled. Seriously. We wouldn’t stand for this level of monopolistic control in any other industry,” said Bryan Passifiume, a reporter for the Toronto Sun.
Passifiume’s tweet included a screenshot of what appeared to be an attempt to post an Australian news article to Facebook. The platform purportedly warned: “This post can’t be shared: In response to Australian government legislation, Facebook restricts the posting of news links and all posts from news Pages in Australia. Globally, the posting and sharing of news links from Australian publications is restricted.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Facebook headquarters at 1-650-308-7300 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
