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February 18, 2021 Clash between Facebook and the Australian government.
The social network has blocked Australian users from sharing links and news.
It is the answer to a bill, now under consideration by the Senate, which intends to force the giants of the web to pay publishers for sharing news.
As of this morning, Australian Facebook users can no longer view links to local or international media news, and people living overseas can no longer access Australian news.
The Australian government reacted with anger, also because the official Facebook pages of the emergency services, health or police were also blocked, used for example to alert the population in case of forest fires, cyclones or even epidemics.
In Australia, a new law is being passed that aims to regulate the relationships between publishers and digital giants such as Facebook or Google regarding the use of news produced by TV, newspapers and websites in the news feeds of the giants of the web.
The bill that is currently under discussion in the Australian parliament, Facebook points out, "misunderstands the relationship between our platform and the publishers who use it to share their content and news".
This proposal "only leaves us to make a clear decision: to try to comply with a law that ignores the reality of this relationship or to stop allowing the sharing of news on our platform in Australia. We regretfully choose the latter option", explains the group. US.
Compared to other companies, Facebook platforms have different relationships with content: "publishers in our case voluntarily choose to publish news on Facebook in order to increase their audience, their subscriptions and their advertising revenues. As we explained for many months to the Australian government the exchange of favors between Facebook and the publishers in favor of the latter ".
Last year, Fb generated about 5.1 billion free shares which Australian publishers benefited for an estimated value of AU $ 407 million.
"For Facebook, the revenues recorded by the news - continues the company - are minimal. News constitutes less than 4% of the content that people see in their news feed. Journalism is important for a democratic society, which is why we create dedicated tools. and free to support news organizations around the world to innovate their content for the online audience. For the past 3 years we have worked with the Australian government to find a solution that recognizes the reality of how our services work. "
Unfortunately, this bill "does not" and this "despite some changes", underlines the US group which said it was ready to "launch Facebook News in Australia and to significantly increase our investments with local publishers".
Now, he adds, "we will prioritize investments in other countries".
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison lashed out against Facebook's decision.
"Facebook's actions to unfriend Australia today by disrupting essential health and emergency information services have been as arrogant as they are disappointing," Morrison commented. "We won't be intimidated by BigTechs trying to put pressure on our Parliament ".
"These actions will only confirm the concerns that a growing number of countries are expressing about the behavior of BigTechs who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules shouldn't apply to them. They could change the world, but that doesn't mean they manage it." added the Australian premier.