In a shocking act of retaliation yesterday, Facebook blocked users in Australia from sharing news, a milestone in the increasingly frantic jockeying between governments, media and powerful tech companies that one Australian politician called “an assault on a sovereign nation” and abuse of power.
The Australian government condemned the decision, which also prevented some government communications, including messages about emergency services, as well as some commercial pages.
The digital platforms fear that what is happening in Australia would become an expensive precedent that other countries would follow.
Photo: Reuters
Facebook took the drastic action because the Australian House of Representatives passed legislation that would make Facebook and Google pay for Australian journalism, said Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who added that he was given no warning before Facebook acted.
The legislation needs to be passed by the Australian Senate before it becomes law.
“Facebook’s actions were unnecessary, they were heavy-handed and they will damage its reputation here in Australia,” Frydenberg said.
Facebook said the proposed Australian law “fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it.”
“This is an assault on a sovereign nation,” Australian Minister for Health Greg Hunt told parliament. “It is an assault on people’s freedom and, in particular, it’s an utter abuse of big technologies’ market power and control over technology.”
Google and Facebook have threatened retaliation if Australia passes the legislation, which the government says would ensure media businesses receive fair payment for their journalism being linked on those platforms.
Australia’s proposal requires a negotiation safety net through an arbitration panel.
The digital giants would not be able to abuse their dominant negotiating positions by making take-it-or-leave-it payment offers to news businesses for their journalism.
If a news business refused to budge, the panel would make a binding decision on a winning offer.
The government accused Facebook of endangering public safety by temporarily blocking state emergency services messaging on a day when there were severe fire and flood warnings in various parts of Australia.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s weather warnings, a Hobart women’s shelter and the Betoota Advocate, a satirical Web site named after an Australian ghost town, were among those surprised to find their content blocked at least temporarily.
Australian Minister for Communications and Arts Paul Fletcher said he had told Facebook that the government expected access to its pages to be restored.
“The fact that there are organizations like state health departments, fire and emergency services ... who have had their Facebook pages blocked, that’s a public safety issue,” Fletcher said.
Facebook said in a statement: “Any pages that are inadvertently impacted, we’ll look to reverse.”
Hunt said that the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne did not have its feed fixed more than eight hours later.
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