Facebook blocks Australian news over proposed media bargaining law
Facebook has “unfriended” Australia, and it may be changing the world but that doesn’t mean it runs it, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said.
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Facebook’s shock news ban was “arrogant” and the federal government won’t be “intimidated by BigTech”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
In a post on the platform, Mr Morrison slammed Facebook for not only wiping the pages of media outlets, but government organisations too.
“Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing,” Mr Morrison said.
He said the company’s actions, which came as parliament votes on the News Media Bargaining Code, confirmed the fears of many countries that BigTech companies believed they were bigger than governments and that “rules should not apply to them”.
“They may be changing the world, but that doesn’t mean they run it,” he said.
“We will not be intimidated by BigTech seeking to pressure our Parliament as it votes on our important News Media Bargaining Code.
“Just as we weren’t intimidated when Amazon threatened to leave the country and when Australia drew other nations together to combat the publishing of terrorist content on social media platforms.”
He said Facebook should “work constructively with the Australian Government”.
‘AN ASSAULT ON AUSTRALIA AND FREEDOM’: FACEBOOK LASHED
Health Minister Greg Hunt labelled Facebook’s move an an “assault” on Australia and on people’s freedom.
Mr Hunt slammed the social media giant’s during question time saying it was an “abuse” of power.
He said it came at a time when it was critical to share health and vaccination information.
“Facebook has taken steps, which are unprecedented and reprehensible. Unacceptable in a democracy such as this and an abuse of their power,” Mr Hunt said.
He said The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, MS Australia, the Danilla Debilba Indigenous Health Service and the Kids Cancer Project, among others, had all been hit by the content ban.
“This is outrageous and unacceptable. We expect that Facebook will fix these actions immediately and never repeat them again,” he said.
“This is an assault on a sovereign nation. It is an assault on people’s freedom and, in particular, it is an utter abuse of big technologies market power and control over technology.”
He said “apparently” Facebook’s original mission was to “bring the world closer together and allow people to help share and express what matters to them”.
He added: “perhaps it is time to put people over profit.”
‘PUBLIC SAFETY’: FACEBOOK NEWS BAN ‘UNNECESSARY’
The Australian Government was given no notice that Facebook would ban news, charities and government organisations on its social network even though founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg talked to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on the same morning the company started deleting information for Australians.
Mr Frydenberg, who called the bans “wrong” said talks with Mr Zuckerberg today and over the weekend were “constructive” and Australia would not back down from introducing the news code passed by in the House of Representatives last night.
“Facebook is in no doubt that we’re committed to the code but also we would like to see them here in Australia,” he said. “But their actions today were unnecessary and wrong.”
Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said Facebook’s removal of news content and government information had gone far beyond what it had originally threatened and had become a “public safety issue”.
He said he had spoken to Facebook executives about restoring access to some government pages today, but removing fact-checked, verified news stories from the social network could also be damaging for the Australian public and the company’s reputation.
“What they’re effectively saying to Australians is, ‘You will not find content on our platform which comes from an organisation which employs professional journalists, which has editorial policies, which has fact-checking processes’,” he said.
“They’re effectively saying, ‘You will not find information that meets those standards of accuracy on our site.’ That seems a very surprising position and one that is unlikely to be in the long-term interest of their brand.”
ZUCKERBERG A ‘DICTATOR: AUSTRALIA BAN SLAMMED
The managing editor of Rolling Stone in Australia and music blog sites The Brag, Tone Deaf and Industry Observer has labelled Mark Zuckerberg a “dictator” whose Facebook news ban will have a flow-on effect on musicians.
Poppy Reid shared an incendiary editorial about the impact of Facebook’s dummy spit on the global artistic community.
“The Mark Zuckerberg dictatorship is in full effect. No longer is he subtly limiting what you see via algorithms, now he has completely blocked Australians from seeing news. This is all out dictatorship,” Redi wrote.
“There’s no doubt that (we) will feel some effect here, however this is a bigger kick in the teeth is for Australian artists and promoters.
“Artists and promoters rely on us to tell their stories and market their tours, right now, a big way we share data and results with artists and promoters is via Facebook.
“Now, Facebook has robbed artists of being able to distribute the stories about them, and market that content to their fans.”
The news ban also indiscriminately stripped all of the heartwarming performances - almost 200 of them - by Jimmy Barnes and his wife Jane from their feed.
The pair began entertaining their legion of fans back in March last year as lockdown began, performing a song almost nightly.
The legendary rocker eventually called the sessions the Jane Barnes Band as his wife became hugely popular online for her own musical skills on guitar and piano.
Australia’s peak real estate body also criticised the move, with a number of “major real estate portals, trade media and real estate member organisations” affected by the ban.
“REIA is currently assessing the situation and the impact on the industry as a whole as Facebook has been an important channel to connect with Australian’s looking to buy and rent property,” Real Estate Institute of Australia president Adrian Kelly said.
Mr Kelly said despite Facebook’s crackdown, he was confident real estate marketing would continue to reach customers.
“COVID has proven that estate agents are very quick to adapt to new technologies and that will be the case in the current environment,” he said.
The Australian Academy of Science, Science and Technology Australia, and the Australian Science Media Centre came out against the ban in a joint statement.
Science & Technology Australia CEO Misha Schubert said the move would deny the public access to important scientific and health information.
“For Facebook to block access to the feeds of trusted science and health organisations in Australia during a pandemic and bushfire season is irresponsible and dangerous,” Ms Schubert said.
“At a time when the company is taking steps to tackle misinformation on its platform, it’s concerning it has chosen to silence some of this nation’s leading scientific voices.”
The social media giant was earlier blasted for banning emergency services pages, after blocking media organisations and users from sharing – and viewing – news.
Major news sites including News Corp’s stable of mastheads, along with Facebook’s own page, and even satirical sites Betoota Advocate and The Onion have all had their Facebook pages wiped, with the message “no posts yet”, after the tech giant announced the move early today.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s page was also restricted on Thursday morning but was later restored.
It came as Facebook is refusing to bend to a regulatory push that would force it to share revenue with mass media outlets.
Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnson said Facebook’s decision to block posts from essential services’ sites put lives at risk.
“Amber alerts and missing people posts have been proven to save lives. There is a social responsibility for these massive companies – it’s not just about profit,” she said.
“I am very surprised by the decision. It is ridiculous. Anything posted by the police is about community safety and the safety of the public. This is irresponsible and they need to stop thinking about money.”
In a statement, Facebook said government pages should not have been impacted and it would work to rectify the issue.
“As the law does not provide clear guidance on the definition of news content, we have taken a broad definition in order to respect the law as drafted,” the statement read.
“However, we will reverse any Pages that are inadvertently impacted.”
ZUCKERBERG CALL
Meantime, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed he had a “constructive discussion” with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, after the social network announced it would block Australian news content.
“This morning, I had a constructive discussion with Mark Zuckerberg from #Facebook,” Mr Frydenberg tweeted.
“He raised a few remaining issues with the Government’s news media bargaining code and we agreed to continue our conversation to try to find a pathway forward.”
This morning, I had a constructive discussion with Mark Zuckerberg from #Facebook.
— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) February 17, 2021
He raised a few remaining issues with the Government’s news media bargaining code and we agreed to continue our conversation to try to find a pathway forward.
Australia is poised to adopt legislation that would force digital companies to pay for news content, something that would create a global precedent and, according to Facebook and Google, impact the way the internet works.
“The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,” said Facebook’s manager for Australia and New Zealand, William Easton.
“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.”
But the federal government is standing firm against the tech juggernaut, with Communications Minister Paul Fletcher saying while the move was a concern he expects Facebook and Google will stay in Australia.
“We’ve had continuing discussions with Facebook. They have chosen to make this announcement. There are already questions about the credibility of the information and sources on the Facebook platform,” he told radio station 2GB.
“They’re basically saying to Australians: ‘If you’re looking for reliable news, Facebook is not the place to look for it.’
“It costs money to employ journalists who have proper fact-checking purposes and provide reliable information and that is a key policy issue the Australian government is concerned about. “What has been announced by Facebook this morning raises very serious questions, including the credibility of information on Facebook.”
Facebook’s move contrasted with Google, which in recent days has brokered deals with media groups (including a deal reached with News Corporation, which was announced today), in response to the regulatory push.
Mr Easton said that Facebook’s platforms “have fundamentally different relationships with news”.
“Google Search is inextricably intertwined with news and publishers do not voluntarily provide their content. On the other hand, publishers willingly choose to post news on Facebook, as it allows them to sell more subscriptions, grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue,” he said, claiming the arrangement worked in publishers’ favour.
“Last year Facebook generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated AU$407 million,” he said.
Earlier this week, Australian officials said the two US tech giants were close to deals with major Australian media to pay for news to resolve a standoff being closely watched around the world.
The companies had threatened to partially withdraw services from the country if the rules become law, sparking a war of words with Canberra.
Mr Easton said Facebook has argued to Australian officials that “the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favour of the publishers,” and generates hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue for the media organisations.
“We’ve long worked toward rules that would encourage innovation and collaboration between digital platforms and news organisations,” Mr Easton said.
“Unfortunately this legislation does not do that. Instead it seeks to penalise Facebook for content it didn’t take or ask for.”
‘MISINFORMATION’
Reset Australia executive director Chris Cooper said Facebook’s bold move showed it was willing to allow “misinformation to fill the void” left by verified facts and news, even during a health crisis.
“Facebook blocking news in the middle of a pandemic, when accurate information is a key plank of the public health response, really tells you all you need to know about how much (founder Mark) Zuckerberg cares about Australian society and cohesion,” Mr Cooper said.
“Throughout the News Media Bargaining Code process big tech has dismissed ‘news’ as nothing more than a line item on a balance sheet.”
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who also sat on the committee investigating the news media bargaining code, said Facebook’s ban on news in Australia showed it was not afraid to demonstrate its monopoly power in social media.
“Facebook has proved this morning they have become far too big, reinforcing the need to regulate this corporate bully,” she said.
“Instead of coming to the negotiating table in good faith and to pay the journalists that create their content, they pulled a major component of their service.”
Labor Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers called the situation a “mess” and said it would have “consequences for people who are trying to get their news — health news — during a pandemic”.
FACE-WIPED: DELETED SITES
MEDIA
news.com.au
Herald Sun
Daily Telegraph
Courier Mail
The Advertiser
NT News
Fox Sports Australia
The Guardian
ABC
Business Insider Australia
Junkee
Punkee
Pedestrian
The Age
The Sydney Morning Herald
The New York Times
CNN
The Australian
Vogue Australia
The Australian Financial Review
9 News
7 News Australia
BBC News
CNET
The Weekly Times
Brisbane Times
WAtoday.com.au
Perthnow
Canberra Times
The Conversation
The New Daily
NITV
SBS
Caama Alice Springs
Ngaarda Media
Bumma Bippera Media 987fm
The Today Show
Sunrise
Broadsheet
The Brag
Tone Deaf
Industry Observer
SATIRE
The Onion
Betoota Advocate
The Shovel
The Chaser
TERTIARY
Monash University
Bond University
Charles Darwin University
University of New England
The University of Newcastle
The Medical Journal of Australia
GOVERNMENT & AGENCIES
Bureau of Meteorology – all states
Department of Fire & Emergency Services – WA
Queensland Health
SA Health
ACT Health
ACT Government
TransLink QLD
Brisbane City Council
Western Sydney Health
SA Government
Tasmanian Government
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Fire and Rescue NSW
The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne
SUPPORT SERVICES
1800Respect
National Debt Helpline
DVConnect
Sacred Heart Mission
Council to Homeless Persons
Mission Australia
Queensland Council of Social Service
Fragile X Association of Australia
COMMERCIAL
Finder
Domain
Realestate.com.au
RACQ
Energex
Virgin Australia
SPORT
Queensland Rugby Leage
Women’s Rugby League
RETAIL
Harvey Norman
ARTS
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Christian Media & Arts Australia
OTHER
Save the Children Australia
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Opportunity International Australia
The Walkley Foundation
Rachie’s Ratirement Home (animal rescue group)
Originally published as Facebook blocks Australian news over proposed media bargaining law
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