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Summary
- While blocking Australian news sites' pages, Facebook also blocked several other non-news sites' pages, including its own.
- The Australian government commented that such an act endangers Facebook trustworthiness.
Ever since the proposed media law is being debated in the Australian parliament, the tech giants Google and Facebook expressed their non-support. They even labelled it as unworkable. The US didn’t miss the moment of warning Australia against such laws. However, the Australian government is going ahead with the debate process. They believe regulation is required to balance the power between digital giants and the local media news companies for ensuring journalism is properly funded.
Source:Pixabay
On Thursday, Aussies found all Australian and global news media sites pages unavailable on Facebook. In their response to the proposed media law, the social media giant will prevent Australian news sites from posting. This law is forcing tech titans Google and Facebook to pay the local media for using their content.
However, while stopping the display of other media house, FB ended up blocking its own page, and other crucial pages which are not classified as media sites like state health departments, the Bureau of Meteorology, the Western Australian opposition leader, and charities. Facebook later confirmed that it was a mistake and that the company is working to restore them.
Google also announced earlier that Australia is leaving them with no choice but to pull out its services, and Microsoft was quick to support the laws as any fallout between Google, and the Australian government is a huge opportunity for Microsoft to capture the market through its offering Bing.
Do read: Microsoft All Praise For New Media Laws Amid Australia-Google Row
However, now Google has agreed to pay to News Corporation for content from its news sites.
Government's take on Facebook action
The Australian government responded that such an act threatens the company's credibility, and Australia Health Minister expressed his shock over Facebook's action affecting the health sites.
Mark Butler, the shadow health minister, stated that the social media company's behaviour is entirely irresponsible, and the pages should be restored.
In the middle of the ongoing pandemic, people need to know about the vaccine rollout from credible sources. The government needs to fix that on priority, he tweeted.
The world is looking at the developments in this regard, and it could set the trend for other countries as well, reportedly EU and Canada are also seeking to make such laws. This is what Facebook and Google fear as it will not be a favourable trend for their business model.
Must read: Scrap media laws imposing Google and Facebook to pay to local media outlets: US
