Discussion

• @swan_legend David Swan on x

  Facebook is also changing its terms of service, allowing it to remove content to “avoid or mitigate regulatory impacts to Facebook” https://twitter.com/...

• @sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x

  Intense: Facebook will block people from sharing news on Facebook in Australia, rather than pay publishers for the content. It's the “only way” to move forward with the new law, FB news exec says. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @pkafka Peter Kafka on x

  Google has says proposed Australian law won't work, hasn't said what will happen if it becomes law.

• @jendudley Jen Dudley-Nicholson on x

  Facebook's threat to remove all news stories — local and international — from Australia burgeons on bizarre. https://www.news.com.au/...

• @trevorlong Trevor Long on x

  Recording right now, so will digest this as the day unfolds, but frankly, I see this position much clearer than I do Googles. Facebook blocking news sharing will harm news outlets in a HUGE way. https://about.fb.com/...

• @mikeisaac Rat King on x

  if this is flipped on, users who try posting news articles to their Facebook will get served a message saying why they can't (and pointing to the law), which I imagine will send a bunch of angry people to the local parliamentary official another stare down Btwn tech & government

• @lpolgreen Lydia Polgreen on x

  What's striking here is how convenient a boogeyman Rupert Murdoch is for the platforms in this fight. https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @brucearnoldlaw Dr Bruce Baer Arnold on x

  short sharp persuasive statement by ACCC on Facebook's threat to stop news sharing. (In submissions earlier this year I noted Fbook's reluctance to stop sharing hate speech) https://www.accc.gov.au/...

• @scottthurm Scott Thurm on x

  Australia is the latest country trying to make Google and Facebook pay for news. Similar efforts in Europe largely flopped. Aussies say they've studied those and are trying a different approach https://www.wired.com/... via @wired

• @seamushughes Seamus Hughes on x

  I just feel bad the guy hired for News Partnerships Lead, Facebook Australia, which was an active job position at the company. Does he just move to the Myanmar account? https://twitter.com/...

• @kengoldsholl Ken Goldsholl on x

  @MikeIsaac @daiwaka lucky Australia!

• @lucas_shaw Lucas Shaw on x

  Facebook has $58 billion in cash on its balance sheet. https://twitter.com/...

• @bluebam927 Hawk on x

  @acccgovau I agree with your strategy, however Facebook have every right to stop procuring news from Australia if they so choose. Referring to their statement as a ‘threat’ and that it is ill-timed and misconceived is not appropriate in my opinion.

• @davezatz Dave Zatz on x

  @sarahfrier @dinabass That's awesome. Exactly what Facebook needs.

• @mradamtaylor Adam Taylor on x

  Perhaps this is a test study we need https://twitter.com/...

• @tomcoates Tom Coates on x

  @jeffjarvis I'm not sure I agree with you here. It gives publishers the right to try and individually or collectively bargain. Why is that bad? If they benefit from being on facebook, then they'll do it. If they don't then they can try and get paid. What am I missing?

• @seamus Seamus Byrne on x

  This is big. But why do I feel like this would be a net positive for how Australians find their news? https://twitter.com/...

• @dylanbyers Dylan Byers on x

  + No word yet on how Google plans to respond. Richard Gingras, Google's vice president of news, did not respond to our request for comment.

• @jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x

  As ever, Rupert Murdoch ruins everything for everyone. He has pushed ridiculous legislation in Australia to get platforms to pay him and big publishers. Facebook just said if that happens, they will forbid the posting of news, which hurts everyone. https://about.fb.com/...

• @deniseshrivell Denise Shrivell on x

  @JoshBBornstein The proposed solutions are not in the public's interest - they're in the Govt's & major news organisation's interests. This is not the Govt to put such complex & important legislation in place.

• @bengrubb @bengrubb on x

  If Facebook goes ahead and bans news links in Australia, the country can't actually force it to re-include them, right? So no matter what the ACCC, the Treasurer or media companies say, they can do what they want, yes?

• @wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x

  I wonder what's the implication of this policy change to Facebook users in authoritarian regimes, such as Hong Kong https://twitter.com/...

• @sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x

  The next obvious question is — what is “news” on Facebook? And that is a very, very messy question. (If they get rid of just mainstream publishers they'd have to pay, and leave hyperpartisan, polarizing “news,” that could be a bad thing for Australian democracy.)

• @alexhern Alex Hern on x

  “We are left with a choice of either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits.” This is... how commerce works?https://about.fb.com/...

• @elisethoma5 Elise Thomas on x

  @JoshButler How on earth are they planning to enforce that, though? They're not doing great at keeping the things they currently claim to have banned off their platform, their chances of effectively banning something as huge as “the news” seem pretty damn slim.

• @nytimes @nytimes on x

  The proposed changes in Australia could also contribute to the spread of disinformation, since news from legitimate news sources would be harder to find https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @jansant @jansant on x

  @JoshButler This is exactly what Murdoch wants. Seriously, you can't see it's a play to knock smaller media players out of the market? It's about further concentrating media ownership and degrading media diversity. It's bloody obvious. Folk are nuts to support it.

• @lukeplunkett Luke Plunkett on x

  Facebook has decimated the media industry worldwide, and the best they can come up with when a government tries to stem that is a pile of hastily made-up horseshit https://about.fb.com/...

• @apiotrowski9 Alison Piotrowski on x

  So Facebook can't seemingly manage to remove fake news.... but now wants to remove REAL NEWS in Australia? https://www.news.com.au/...

• @marcambinder Marc Ambinder on x

  Update to Facebook TOS just now on the mobile app. https://twitter.com/...

• @jeremypeppas Jeremy Peppas on x

  @Kantrowitz @Bencjacobs Maybe Facebook get could Australian publishers to pivot to video if they placed a priority on that content. Then a bunch of Australian journalists could get laid off because Facebook cooked the books to made video look more important because it created mor…

• @jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x

  Truth is, Facebook would be much happier without news: less controversy; more cats. Who's hurt with Murdoch's game: publishers and the public. Advertisers are running away from news. Platforms will. But Murdoch doesn't care; he sells propaganda, not news.

• @willoremus Will Oremus on x

  Facebook just threatened to block users from sharing news in Australia, in response to new rules that would force it to pay publishers: https://www.nytimes.com/... I wrote in depth about the pros and cons of Australia's plan in May, and the logic behind it: https://rsci.app.link/…

• @benedictevans Benedict Evans on x

  “we are left with a choice of either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits.” https://about.fb.com/...

• @seamushughes Seamus Hughes on x

  Facebook commits to investing in journalism in countries that are not too mean to them. https://www.facebook.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x

  So in the end, honest news will go off Facebook and Murdoch will be left alone to propagandize and brainwash. He fucks news and democracy and platforms all at once. And Australian pols play along because he has too much power. Murdoch—not Facebook—gave us Trump.

• @om @om on x

  So Facebook can block news from being shared, but it can't block fake news and crap from being shared on its platforms. Even @TheOnion @mcsweeneys can top reality in 2020 https://twitter.com/...

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  Facebook to idiots screaming about #Section230: “go ahead, remove 230, and we'll just take down all your content, you numbskulls.” https://twitter.com/...

• @jamesrbuk James Ball on x

  News companies pushing to make social media giants pay to use their content ought to be very, very careful: I do not think Facebook is bluffing here. https://twitter.com/...

• @cameronwilson Cmwlsn on x

  to all the people who say they'd be glad if Facebook got rid of news content: here's a comparison of the top link posts from Australian pages in the past 24hrs. https://twitter.com/...

• @jason_kint Jason Kint on x

  I'm a bit forgiving here since it's being reported from other side of world but this threat by Facebook is missing much context including a multi-year antitrust investigation by ACCC which started earlier than rest of world. China/TikTok/Trump context isn't even that relevant. ht…

• @emef Mark Fletcher on x

  @jeffjarvis In my Aussie opinion, the planned move by the federal government is an interference in the free market economy, something the current government claims to hold dear. https://www.newsagencyblog.com.au/ ...

• @kateconger Kate Conger on x

  a move from the Uber playbook https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @johnb78 John B on x

  The draft code doesn't apply to the ABC and SBS. If Facebook banned all news sharing in Australia except for the ABC and SBS that would be both extremely funny, and also a huge net benefit to the public realm. https://twitter.com/...

• @grogsgamut Greg Jericho on x

  ACCC's argument here is that is that 39% of Australians use FB for news, but from FB's point of view that does not mean 39% of its business is to do with news. Facebook is terrible and should be broken up and made to pay tax, but the ACCC has not been all that persuasive IMO http…

• @rachelquayle08 @rachelquayle08 on x

  @ContrarySarie @MikeIsaac @daiwaka They don't call us “The Lucky Country” for nothing 😂

• @dylanmatt Dylan Matthews on x

  A fun thought experiment is “would Facebook banning people from sharing any news articles, as they're doing in Australia, be better as a general policy for everyone?” https://about.fb.com/...

• @raju Raju Narisetti on x

  Unlike @Google, @Facebook doesn't need news to make most of its money, so the business stakes in a country of 20 million of not kowtowing to poorly framed public policy are rather low. https://twitter.com/...

• @raju Raju Narisetti on x

  Should it? is the more relevant question https://www.wired.com/...? via @wired

• @maxchalm Max Chalmers on x

  Here's Facebook's statement from their Aus/NZ Managing Director Will Easton. “Assuming this draft code becomes law, we will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram” https://about.fb.com/...

• @neerajka Neeraj K. Agrawal on x

  Reminder that Facebook already removes criticism of the government to comply with local regulation in places like Vietnam https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @jason_kint Jason Kint on x

  The same Campbell Brown just two years ago... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...