Facebook has blocked Australians from accessing and sharing news in protest at a new law that would have forced the site to pay for the content it hosts. Rabeya Lima reports.
- Furious Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the move shows tech companies ‘think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them’ while others branded it ‘an assault on a sovereign nation’ and an ‘abuse of power’. He slammed Facebook as “arrogant” and warned Australia “will not be intimated”
- Australians searching Facebook for news today were instead shown notifications saying ‘no posts’ were available. Attempting to share news links brought up a message saying ‘this post can’t be shared.
- The social media site has also banned pages belonging to the Bureau of Meteorology, state health departments, charities, food banks, and Facebook itself. The shock move also stopped some government messages being shared, including from emergency services providing essential information on Covid, fires, and help for victims of domestic violence.
- Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the ban on news information had a “huge community impact”. About 17 million Australians visit the social media site every month.
- Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan accused the company of “behaving like a North Korean dictator”.
- The backlash quickly went international, with one Democrat politician in the US saying it shows ‘Facebook is not compatible with democracy’.
- Human Rights Watch’ Australia director Elaine Pearson said Facebook was censoring the flow of information in the country – calling it a “dangerous turn of events”.
