SYDNEY, Today: Facebook is shutting down Australian access, restricting publishers from sharing local and international news – in a direct response to Australia’s proposed News Media Bargaining Code.
The US tech giant made the announcement in a blog post by the company’s Australia & New Zealand managing director in the early hours of this morning.
Facebook has so far taken no action against NZ – which has indicated it will not back the Australian plans.
Sydney-based Will Easton said: “The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content.
“With a heavy heart, we must stop allowing news content on our services in Australia.”
“It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia.
“With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter.”
In the post Easton asserted that Facebook and Google had significantly different relationships with news, with publishers voluntarily providing and sharing their news on Facebook, while with Google, they don’t have that choice.
Easton also asserted that Facebook had made clear to the Australian government for many months “the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favour of the publishers — which is the reverse of what the legislation would require the arbitrator to assume.
Last year Facebook generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated $A407 million.
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