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Summary
- UK Culture and Media Minister Julian Knight termed Facebook’s decision deeply irresponsible.
- US lawmaker David Cicilline has also criticized Facebook’s Australia news blackout.
- Canada Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault says more countries will bring social media legislation.
After Australia and Canada, the UK and the US have slammed Facebook’s peremptory behavior in blocking Australian news from its site, calling it deeply irresponsible and bad conduct.
Facebook has blocked all Australian news from its site this week after the government moved ahead on legislation requiring the social media and tech companies to pay for using content.
UK Sports, Culture, and Media Minister Julian Knight on Friday termed Facebook’s decision a deeply irresponsible behavior and represents the opposite of a good global citizen.
The minister said that Australia’s stand on the issue represents a growing concern about the big tech companies’ ability to leverage their market power and manipulate and stay ahead of others.
Raising the heat against Facebook, US lawmaker David Cicilline also criticized the Australian news blackout. Mr. Cicilline had been a vocal critique of Facebook. In 2019, he had supported strong action against the social media company in an antitrust case before the Federal Trade Commission. Facebook is also facing charges for being slow in removing misinformation from its platform.
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What Facebook Says
Facebook, however, has denied allegations of irresponsible behavior. The company’s Europe Vice President Nicola Mendelsohn said her organization is committed to helping news producers.
Citing examples, Ms. Mendelsohn said that her company had collaborated with the Wall Street Journal in 2019 for a paid news service. In the UK, it had launched a news segment last month in collaboration with British publishers.
The company had been in talks with the Australian government over the issue for several months. It had previously threatened to blackout Australian news if its objections were not addressed.
The Australian lawmakers want Facebook to pay for the content used on its site and have proposed to enact a law that would enable talks between publishers and the company for revenue sharing from ads. But in case of a breakdown, the regulators would issue a binding arbitration.
Google will also have to share a portion of the ad revenues with news organizations for using their stories. In the US, it has signed a multi-year agreement with News Corp, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, for content sharing. It was also in talks with publishers, including those from Canada, for its News Showcase Service. In Australia, though, it has reportedly agreed to some of the conditions.
Many big media houses have welcomed the Australian government’s proposed law, which they believe would help recover millions of dollars that will keep the news organizations in good stead.
Canada too has expressed dismay over Facebook’s news restrictions in Australia.
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault on Thursday described Facebook’s actions as irresponsible and pledged to introduce similar legislation for the country. Mr. Guilbeault said that many other countries would join them in bringing legislation to protect the rights of the publishers.
