Only ‘news’ left on Facebook will be fake under Australia ban

Facebook’s decision to block news means that the only ’news’ left on its platform will be fake, and its timing – when coronavirus vaccines are yet to be rolled out in Australia – couldn’t be worse. Picture: Olivier Douliery/AFP

Facebook’s move to ban the sharing of news in Australia is incredibly irresponsible, particularly in the midst of a global pandemic, when the millions of Australians who use Facebook every day need to be able to access reliable and trusted health information.

The tech giant on Thursday followed through on its threats to ban news altogether in Australia, and banned users globally from reading any Australian news.

In doing so it also hit a large and seemingly random array of community groups, charities and government agencies, many of whom provide crucial health advice and support to people in need.

Facebook’s offensive is an astonishing abdication of responsibility for a platform that a sizeable percentage of the Australian population who use Facebook, and rely on it for their daily news and information.

For many, the Facebook website has effectively become ‘the internet’ – the place they go to know what’s going on. With that power comes responsibility, a responsibility that users can trust what they read and consume on the platform.

The tech giant has long failed in that responsibility, allowing misinformation to run rampant and letting its algorithm surface fake news in the place of trusted journalism. Its move on Thursday proves where its real priorities lie.

Fake cures and fake news

Globally, 2.42 million people have died from COVID-19. It‘s a pandemic made worse by social media, where users have spruiked fake cures, and even denied the coronavirus’ existence. Facebook’s decision to block news means that the only “news” left on its platform will be fake, and its timing – when vaccines are yet to be rolled out in Australia – couldn’t be worse.

For all its bluster, Google took an adult approach to the news media bargaining code, coming to the table and signing deals with most major news publishers in Australia. They’re deals that will mean the hiring of more local journalists, and deals that will bolster the publishing industry, and subsequently democracy, in Australia.

Facebook‘s move will have the opposite effect, and will be devastating for local media companies, and for Australians more broadly. The tech giant is effectively admitting social media isn’t where users should be looking for news, that we shouldn’t have trusted them all along.

There will be severe side effects, too. Agencies like the Bureau of Meteorology and NSW Health cannot post, police aren’t able to share links to crime alerts or missing persons information, and health agencies aren’t able to share news links. Even social groups including the North Shore Mums have been caught up in the ban. Facebook blames the way the bargaining code legislation is worded, deeming it overly broad. That’s no excuse for blacking out critical bushfire and pandemic information when it’s most needed.

It’s not just publishers who suffer, it’s everyone.

Horrifying implications

As well as the current pandemic the move could have horrifying implications during bushfire season, when Australians need to be able to know when to leave, or face great peril.

Remember, this is a platform that allowed the horror and the bloodshed of the Christchurch massacre to be live streamed to a worldwide audience.

And yet, allowing the free flow of information that is in the public interest, and for the greater good, appears to be a bridge too far.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that perhaps Australians will accelerate their break up with Facebook. The #deletefacebook trend, which flared two years ago, will ramp up in earnest.

Facebook began as a website to rate whether your classmates were ‘hot or not’, and its move to block news shows that it never really grew up. We could never really trust Facebook, and that it can walk away from news altogether proves it.