Facebook bans news in Australia as fight with government escalates

What is Facebook without news? People and publishers in Australia are now finding out.
Facebook (FB) has barred Australians from finding or sharing news on its service, a dramatic escalation of a fight with the government that may have wide-ranging consequences both in the country and around the world.
The social networking company on Wednesday said that people and publishers in Australia will no longer be able to share or see any news from local or international outlets. The decision appears to be the most restrictive move Facebook has ever taken against content publishers.
The company's action comes after months of tension with the Australian government, which has proposed legislation that would force tech platforms to pay news publishers for content. CNN's Brian Stelter reports.
#BrianStelter #FirstMove #CNNBusiness

82 comments

    1. All governments around the should place a tax on Facebook for News content that way they simply can’t ban or block countries from their site. Facebook wants to have their cake and eat it to, that’s the problem.

    1. I love all these people confessing that they stopped social media, who cares. If so many people had actually quit all this, then there wouldn’t be stuff like Qanon bullshit floating around. It’s like people saying, “Yeah I quit drinking I just stick to wine now.”

    2. @Don Quixote get rid of the app too all data will be gone in ? i can live without it.going to brave and me we then gab

    3. only use it for the messenger thing-a-me-bob, with blood & mates o/s, bugger paying stupid high phone bills, if there was another way, we’d get rid of it altogether…it’s a dead-set pain in the ring-gear… ; ]

    4. The biggest jokes of the century: 1. U.S. President Trump was banned from speaking on social networking platforms. 2. The Australian news media was blocked by Facebook.

    1. What about independent journalists seeing their content from their website being shared, but all you can think of is evil Murdoch.
      It’s not just about news content, Facebook is at war with Apple, cause Apple is taking privacy and tracking seriously, Facebook is dependant on harvesting information about you, and selling it!

    2. Well said. The algorithms used by these tech giants are the root cause of so many social ills, including the brainwashing, and fearmongering of the elderly.

    3. You can’t not have those accounts because someone could make one in your name. It’s better to reserve them then just leave them unused, collecting dust.

    1. @skaetur1 Not really the same thing, are they? People come on YT and look at cute kitty videos for an hour or so. They don’t set up massive walls of content and blab their entire private lives to the world on YT and get all butt hurt if someone un-friends them.

    2. i had no computer for about 3 years and wow what a difference I did get a call from a Japanize person asking me do i have a computer

    1. @sixstringman No but obama definitely cleaned up the mess of yet another republican and planted seeds to fight systematic oppression.

    1. Unlike in the US, self-protection is not accepted as a justifiable reason to own a gun. How’s the crime rate? Yeah nothing to see there.

    2. Precisely. And it’ll be easier here. Hell we gave up our privacy to all these companies when they started despite everyone warning us. Big money wins.

    1. @Lasr8 in your opinion it’s social media however I think the difference between youtube and social media is in the intended purposes of each platform youtube existed far before other social media apps were created and became obsolete. Youtube has survived because??? It’s not social media, it’s an entertainment platform.

    2. face mask . keep your distance and others. eat hot people think recover from corona. the flu alert is endless. masks are needed: preventing lung cancer ‘virus; Toxic substances in the case of black lungs and can not filter the air, absorb dirt. vaccines. on soaked clothes, viruses. body resistance is only 70%. of the level of disease in the patient. the sooner it is treated the better and faster the healing process. colon cancer alert. and inflammation of the brain and respiratory tissues. keep body temperature. follow the doctor’s rules and advice. drink hot ginger. if there is no irritation and gastritis. eat healthy and nutritious. hot soup with spices. do not consume excessive amounts of drugs and vitamins. kidney and others. Sports . body heat and sunshine .. hot bath. stay healthy. body endurance . can hurt again. do not be careless. the healing period can be months until it is really healthy 80% in moderate. Animal spreader cases. Sorry. Pray to God.

  1. I opened an account on Facebook and within minutes I was bombarded with stuff I wasn’t interested in. Needless to say I closed it with in days and will never any media account. It’s madness and devilish.

  2. Can’t even remember if I still have an account in Zuccy bois platform or have deleted it. Feels so peaceful and without it

    1. I too sometime feel that way, but kept my account so I can contact my college friend. Its a free country, people should have choices. The Australian government along with Rupert Murdock thought they were smart with their dumb law, but it backfired. I have no sympathy for Murdock and will keep on using Facebook, not to read the news but to keep up with my friend which is what Facebook was all about until all these News Media Companies came in.

  3. We’ll do just fine without Facebook news! There are lots of other sources of news. Go us 🇦🇺😊👍

    1. When things were at their very worst:
      2 Suns, Cross in the sky, 2 comets will collide = don`t be afraid – repent, accept Lord`s Hand of Mercy.
      The first sign – the Earth will spin faster.
      The second sign concerns the sun, which will loom larger, brighter and begin to spin.
      Scientists will say it was a global illusion.
      Beaware – Jesus will never walk in flesh again.
      After WW3 – rise of the “ man of peace“ from the East = Antichrist – the most powerful, popular, charismatic and influential leader of all time. Many miracles will be attributed to him. He will imitate Jesus in every conceivable way.
      Don`t trust „pope“ Francis = the False Prophet
      – will seem to rise from the dead
      – will unite all Christian Churches and all Religions as one.
      One World Religion = the seat of the Antichrist.
      Benedict XVI is the last true pope – will be accused of a crime of which he is totally innocent.

      – banking collapse was deliberately masterminded by the Antichrist

      – Antichrist will step in and create a false peace in the state of Israel by joining them with palestine in an unlikely alliance.

      – „He will recite extracts from My Teachings, which he will passionately proclaim from every secular stage in the world, until people sit up and take notice of him.“

      The Book of Truth
      http://mdmlastprophet.com/arab-uprising-will-spark-global-unrest-italy-will-trigger-fall-out/
      http://mdmlastprophet.com/when-i-come-as-the-king-of-mercy-not-one-soul-will-be-left-in-any-doubt-as-to-who-i-am-and-what-i-am/

  4. Trust me, we Australians dont ike being threatened by these big tech companies!! Watch Facebook cave in and backtrack

    1. We can’t even make a reliable Internet service across the country let alone push Facebook out of the picture.
      This is the govt fault for being heavy handed towards a business that generates over 5 billion FREE clicks for the news industry and over 400$ million. 1/3rd of the traffic comes from Facebook. They CHOOSE to be on the platform. This Bill does not take into account what could of happened/did happen, didn’t take into account the damage on small news agencies that rely on Facebooks traffic to survive, where a lot of Australian get their news from…. This is a classic murdoch golden handshake by a government that has no idea of the tech world. We are so behind in tech from electric, solar, Internet…
      And then Facebook calls the bluff and the govt and news starts crying….
      But yeah let’s keep feeding Murdochs empire that doesn’t even pay taxes

    2. @Noxious M that’s sad! These massive billion dollar companies need to be put in place or they just keep getting bigger and bigger!!

    3. @Andrew Hazlewood We are Australian , Sky News Australia the equivalent of Fox isn’t taken seriously and to be fair the printed press , newspapers are ok, I will consider Financial Review or The Australian the same , both quality balanced national newspaper and from slightly different ideology. The local papers maybe a bit different, but as a Queenslander with basically only Murdoch press we are doing ok.

    1. @NotADev yeah that is exactly what’s happening, my dad is one of them. he gets irrationally angry if I even try to hint that Facebook might have some good reason to block news because of how unfair this proposed code is. but to be fair… I might have felt that way if it weren’t for the fact that 90% of our news and media is right wing Murdoch rhetoric. I don’t believe the law supports independent journalism enough for it to be credible.

    2. @NotADev unfortunately, he took on this position firmly because of Google, when this all began a couple months back. My friends, brothers and I are kind of neutral about the whole thing, we don’t really use Facebook or Google. I used to use Facebook for bushfire alerts, but not anymore

    3. I’m Australian, and I hate what my government is doing. This will benefit only the media. It doesn’t stop the sharing / selling of personal informing. It just means that the media gets a big, very fat piece of cake sprinkled in money.

  5. Imagine being part of the “resistance” as big tech sensors anything that differs from your opinion 🐑 🐑 🐑

  6. If I was the Australian Govt. I was just accept, ok, np, no FB interference in elections.
    Go one better, employ restrictions on how FB works, just like China has.

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