Facebook news ban lifted in Australia news-mail.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news-mail.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
I woke last Thursday to learn that Facebook had blocked news content in Australia. That this was imminent was no surprise. Many of us had been expecting this in response to the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code. But the breadth and severity of what occurred was brutal.
The content blocked was not only that of large media companies. Public interest, not-for-profit, and religious media many of whom rely heavily on Facebook to share messages with their readers, were blocked as well.
Government departments, charities and essential information services all found their pages empty.
Jesuit Communications Australia publishes Australian Catholics, Madonna and Eureka Street. As a Jesuit Ministry, our purpose and mission is not only one of service to the Catholic community but also one of accompaniment of those at the margins, people who are pushed to the edge of society, who seek protection, who live with mental illness, who are unemployed.
Facebook and Google went in completely different directions in the face of legislation to make them pay for Australian news. Now, more countries have the tech giants in their sights.
Big Tech Appeals to Users over the Australian Media Dispute
Both Facebook and Google s strategies have involved a mixture of user-focused advertising, political lobbying, and even threats to pull services from Australia.
Over the past few weeks, Google and Facebook have engaged in desperate attempts to avoid regulation under the Australian government’s proposed mandatory news media bargaining code.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg evenappealed to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher personally last week, hoping to shift the government’s hard stance.
Both platforms’ strategies have involved a mixture of user-focused advertising, political lobbying, and even threats to pull services from Australia.