In Australia, Facebook has banned the posting of news on all the news websites, infuriated with the law of paying money to show news in Australia. Facebook has also blocked its own page in Australia. This ban on Facebook has affected many including the emergency services in Australia.
Facebook has stopped Australian news websites from posting news since Thursday morning of 18th Feb 2021. Not only this, but Facebook has also banned Australian users from opening news on their accounts of any website, whether domestic or foreign. Facebook on this ban said that it is doing this in opposition to the legislation that came in the Senate. This law states that Facebook and Google will have to pay money to the news and websites.
Dozens of government agencies’ pages were hit by the Facebook ban!
Facebook targeted only Australian news publishers, but it hit dozens of pages run by government agencies. These pages were blocked for several hours. The Australian Meteorological Department on Thursday, 18th Feb 2021, informed that their Facebook page has been blocked.
Earlier, the Australian government on Tuesday 16th Feb 2021, said that the draft laws are going to be amended to make explicit that big giant companies like Google and Facebook would pay publishers a whole sum price instead of per click on news links.
A government statement described these legislative changes as ‘clarification and technical amendments‘. Australian ministers held discussions with Facebook Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet Inc and its company Google chief executive Sundar Pichai last weekend. The Conservative Government of Australia is hoping to implement the ‘News Media Bargaining Code‘ (News Media Bargaining Code) before the current session of Parliament ends on 25th February 2021.
Google and Facebook condemned the bill. This bill had an 81 percent stake in online advertising in Australia. Google has warned that its (Google’s) search engine in Australia will be shut down if this bill is introduced in Australia. Facebook also warned that Australian publishers would be barred from sharing the news if they forced Facebook to pay. Facebook has now implemented this warning.
The rules aim to break the limelight of the digital giant’s bargaining and establish an arbitration committee that will have the authority to pass a legally binding set of rules on pricing. This committee will accept the best offer from the digital platform or publisher and will occasionally try to manage the prices between the digital giants and the news websites. Because of this committee, digital platforms and media businesses will not be able to make unrealistic demands. In addition to the lump sum payment made to the publishers for arbitration, the new amendments will also state that the committee will also be powered to consider the costs of digital forums and the news business.
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