The new law of the Australian Government has forced Facebook to ban Australian users from viewing news articles on their Facebook account. It is not only restricting users to get both national and international news, but the news agencies and publishers are also restricted from displaying their content.
What Is The New Law By the Australian Government?
via: financialexpress
Australian Government has proposed a law for tech companies that are supposed to pass within a week. The law is proposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, according to which tech companies have to negotiate with media publishers for displaying news content on their platform.
Opposing to this, Google had threatened to block its services in Australia if it is forced to pay for news. After facing opposition from the two popular social media giants, the Australian government had decided to amend the law and collect only a fixed amount rather than pay per click.
Google Stepped Back, Facebook Still Fighting Against New Law
via: journal
The popular search engine Google has made a three-year contract with News Corp publications and is ready to pay a significant amount for displaying content of various news platforms.
Unlike Google, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is still opposing the proposed law and has restricted several media publishers and users of Australia to view and share any news on its platform.
This has severely affected not only the users and local Australian news outlets but dozens of government portals that have been using Facebook as a medium to share information and give emergency services are also affected.
#DeleteFacebook Demand Users On Twitter
Facebook is facing #DeleteFacebook demand by the users on Twitter against its decision to restrict users from accessing the news content.
Blocking emergency services? The weather bureau? Really Mark?? #MarkZuckerberg #DeleteFacebook
— Dame Jaymay (@jaymay42) February 18, 2021
#DeleteFacebook the “F” stands for fake, foolish and fraud is right! I don’t miss it at all. #goodriddance #ByeFelicia pic.twitter.com/FnbR9fBM9c
— Sandy, the Beach is Back🌊❄️ (@BKiddo0725) February 18, 2021
Facebook has blocked several pages among which several belong to the state police, meteorology, and official public health pages, and rescue services of New South Wales.
Facebook blocking health information in the middle of a global pandemic is utterly irresponsible.
Mark Zuckerberg, a mega-billionaire is censoring what news and information Australians can access.
— 💚🌏 Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) February 17, 2021
Senator of South Australia has condemned Mark’s decision and called it an irresponsible step during the tough times when the world is facing a pandemic.