Headlines in the Australian press after Facebook blocking news content.

-

Rick Rycroft / AP / SIPA

The standoff continues.

Mark Zuckerberg spoke to the Australian government on Friday about the bill that aims to force tech giants to pay media for the recovery of their content.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has insisted that his country does not intend to bow to "threats".

As of Thursday, Australians can no longer post links to news articles or visit the Facebook pages of Australian media who can no longer share their content.

Australian Finance Minister Josh Frydenberg said he spoke with Mark Zuckerberg on Friday.

Negotiations will continue this weekend.

A response to a bill

“We have discussed the outstanding issues and have agreed that our respective teams will address them immediately,” Josh Frydenberg said on Twitter.

The Prime Minister indicated during a press conference in Sydney that this blocking of Facebook constitutes a "threat".

“It's not a good decision on their part and they should quickly get over it and get back to the negotiating table”, said Scott Morrison.

This blocking is a response to a bill that would seek to force Facebook and Google to pay Australian media for the recovery of their content.

For the Prime Minister, this bill, which will be debated Monday in the Senate, is closely scrutinized by many leaders across the planet.

Australian media audiences fall, Facebook audiences do not

Facebook, for its part, seems to be sticking to its positions, believing that this text is inapplicable and that the social network has no other choice but to put in place such restrictions.

Since their entry into force on Thursday, the number of people viewing Australian media sites has fallen at home and abroad, with overseas traffic falling by more than 20% per day, according to the company. Chartbeat data analysis.

However, Internet users do not seem to have left Facebook for Google, which does not seem to have recorded an increase in its traffic.

The blockage angered Canberra, especially as it affected several official rescue services Facebook pages.

Most of them worked again a few hours later.

Google also threatened to suspend its search engine in Australia before backing down Wednesday by agreeing to pay "significant sums" in return for content from the news group News Corp.

by Rupert Murdoch.

Media

Neighboring rights: “What freedom can the press have if it is dependent on a private actor?

"

Media

Neighboring rights: Google will pay for the extracts of press articles it distributes

  • Facebook

  • Australia

  • Mark zuckerberg