Facebook's refusal to pay a misguided media tax, pushed by Rupert Murdoch, is a defense of the open web and criticizing it for rejecting a link tax is bizarre
I have no problem with “big tech” or “Silicon Valley” or anything else, just Facebook which is really bad. James Surowiecki / @jamessurowiecki : No way to win. Facebook chooses not to pay. Google, doing exactly what the Australian government wants it to do, does pay, and yet they're still both wrong. https://twitter.com/... Yanis Varoufakis / @yanisvaroufakis : Big Tech's Australian powerplay proves we live in the era of Technofeudalism. To secure the right NOT to pay for journalists' output, FB banned all Aussie journalistic output while Google struck a deal with Murdoch to pay only his rightist news outlets https://www.rfi.fr/... Mike Masnick / @mmasnick : I got tired of responding to every bad take regarding the Facebook Australia news on Twitter, and have now written a longer post about it. Just don't try to share it on FB in Australia. https://www.techdirt.com/... Jeff Jarvis / @jeffjarvis : Be careful what you lobby for. Be careful who you associate with — i.e., Murdoch. This is all Murdoch's fault. And, by the way, he doesn't suffer a bit because he owns half the media in Australia. He's helped if his competitors, old or new, suffer. Coincidence? No! https://twitter.com/... Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias : I don't think “whatever side of a controversy Facebook is one is wrong” is a dishonest or hypocritical position — Facebook is just very bad! https://twitter.com/... Alex Howard / @digiphile : Taxing hyperlinks is dumb, & should be dragged & dropped into the trash can of history. https://www.techdirt.com/... Blocking links to news is also dumb, @Facebook. States should tax digital ad revenues to fund independent foundations that support nonprofit journalism & civic media. https://twitter.com/... Nilay Patel / @reckless : Just reading the Murduch vs Facebook discourse https://twitter.com/... Jason Kint / @jason_kint : I don't agree w @karaswisher conclusion but respect her mod POV here. But what I do want to know is for all the reporting in 24hrs...has anyone asked for backup on this Facebook claim? I don't believe 5B clicks for news pubs created $316mm in revenue. FB traffic is super thin$. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Matthew Tostevin / @tostevinm : A different perspective: “This fight was not “Facebook v. Australia.” Or “Facebook v. journalism” even though some ignorant or dishonest people are making it out to be the case. This was always “Rupert Murdoch v. the open web.” https://www.techdirt.com/... via @Techdirt Sunrise / @sunriseon7 : “Facebook is a threat to democracy and to public health” Former Facebook investor and mentor to Mark Zuckerberg Roger McNamee (@moonalice) on the social media giant's decision to ban news in Australia. https://twitter.com/... @slpng_giants_oz : Government & various pundits screeching about Facebook robbing the public of credible information by blocking news sites in Australia. FB is evil but who published ARSON lies of the bushfires, SEX romp security guards lie & Sky News. Rupert Murdoch & News Corp!#Auspol Andrew Bartlett / @andrewbartlett : Seeing Murdoch media repeatedly calling Facebook a bully with zero sense of irony is a sight to behold. @clairlemon : And I actually don't think it's about cash. It's about power. The media biz and politics biz has always been about power—cash is a secondary concern. Greg Jericho / @grogsgamut : There's almost universal reporting that Facebook has alienated/angered its users... but has it? I mean I have a lot of fairly politically/media addicted friends and my FB feed seems largely absent of anything approaching that Djinni / @djinni43142058 : Enlighten me, please. Is this Facebook thing simply a way to give Murdoch even more control over what we see and hear? An even greater monopoly? Is that what is behind it? Brant Cooper / @brantcooper : Society responds to these dilemmas exactly the wrong way. We tinker with system outcomes we don't like, unable to grok the myriad ramifications of the tinkering on other parts of the system. I dislike FB. But who is articulating the desired outcome other than FU FB? https://twitter.com/... Mike Masnick / @mmasnick : I just had to ring the bell hanging over my desk, as for the first time in my life, I've convinced someone to change their opinion on this here internet. https://twitter.com/... Ben Thompson / @benthompson : I think what is illuminating about this story is the breathtaking dishonesty of many Facebook critics. It's probably worth keeping in mind to what extent the “whatever side Facebook is on is the wrong one” heuristic applies to other more difficult to understand stories as well. https://twitter.com/... @ohmdee : Takeaway message: here is yet another piece of legislation written by politicians with zero technical knowledge, who also consulted nobody with technical knowledge. It was bound to be flawed. https://twitter.com/... Hussein Kanji / @hkanji : We can argue about whether or not Facebook is “compatible with democracy” but the simple facts of the situation are that Australia - pushed heavily by Rupert Murdoch - has decided to put in place a plan to tax Google and Facebook for any links to news https://www.techdirt.com/... David Armstrong / @djamesarmstrong : I get the #facebook hate, but this is the best take on the facebook/google/Australia dust up I've seen. @techdirt @mmasnick https://www.techdirt.com/... @channel4news : “Every government is the Australian government, as we all face this unaccountable power in the same way - it is time for governments to wake up.” Author Shoshana Zuboff tells @krishgm that tech giants have control and authority of the world's knowledge. https://www.channel4.com/... Bobby Allyn / @bobbyallyn : “This fight was not ‘Facebook v. Australia.’ Or ‘Facebook v. journalism’ even though some ignorant or dishonest people are making it out to be the case. This was always ‘Rupert Murdoch v. the open web.’ https://twitter.com/... See also Mediagazer
So: Facebook's nuclear-option has really badly distracted from something really serious and significant. Google has entered into an agreement to *pay cash* to spread Infowars-grade misinformation about climate and energy. My post -> https://reneweconomy.com.au/ ... And a quick 🧵.…
No way to win. Facebook chooses not to pay. Google, doing exactly what the Australian government wants it to do, does pay, and yet they're still both wrong. https://twitter.com/...
Big Tech's Australian powerplay proves we live in the era of Technofeudalism. To secure the right NOT to pay for journalists' output, FB banned all Aussie journalistic output while Google struck a deal with Murdoch to pay only his rightist news outlets https://www.rfi.fr/...
To be clear: I have no view on the merits of any particular Facebook policy decision. I think Zuckerberg is a good guy and very smart and I wish he'd do the right thing and turn Facebook off. Failing that, everyone who works there should quit and go do something worthwhile. https…
Maybe it's just me but I'm like a single-issue anti-Facebook extremist — I have no problem with “big tech” or “Silicon Valley” or anything else, just Facebook which is really bad.
I got tired of responding to every bad take regarding the Facebook Australia news on Twitter, and have now written a longer post about it. Just don't try to share it on FB in Australia. https://www.techdirt.com/...
Be careful what you lobby for. Be careful who you associate with — i.e., Murdoch. This is all Murdoch's fault. And, by the way, he doesn't suffer a bit because he owns half the media in Australia. He's helped if his competitors, old or new, suffer. Coincidence? No! https://twitte…
I don't think “whatever side of a controversy Facebook is one is wrong” is a dishonest or hypocritical position — Facebook is just very bad! https://twitter.com/...
Taxing hyperlinks is dumb, & should be dragged & dropped into the trash can of history. https://www.techdirt.com/... Blocking links to news is also dumb, @Facebook. States should tax digital ad revenues to fund independent foundations that support nonprofit journalism & civic med…
I don't agree w @karaswisher conclusion but respect her mod POV here. But what I do want to know is for all the reporting in 24hrs...has anyone asked for backup on this Facebook claim? I don't believe 5B clicks for news pubs created $316mm in revenue. FB traffic is super thin$. h…
A different perspective: “This fight was not “Facebook v. Australia.” Or “Facebook v. journalism” even though some ignorant or dishonest people are making it out to be the case. This was always “Rupert Murdoch v. the open web.” https://www.techdirt.com/... via @Techdirt
“Facebook is a threat to democracy and to public health” Former Facebook investor and mentor to Mark Zuckerberg Roger McNamee (@moonalice) on the social media giant's decision to ban news in Australia. https://twitter.com/...
Government & various pundits screeching about Facebook robbing the public of credible information by blocking news sites in Australia. FB is evil but who published ARSON lies of the bushfires, SEX romp security guards lie & Sky News. Rupert Murdoch & News Corp! #Auspol
There's almost universal reporting that Facebook has alienated/angered its users... but has it? I mean I have a lot of fairly politically/media addicted friends and my FB feed seems largely absent of anything approaching that
Enlighten me, please. Is this Facebook thing simply a way to give Murdoch even more control over what we see and hear? An even greater monopoly? Is that what is behind it?
Society responds to these dilemmas exactly the wrong way. We tinker with system outcomes we don't like, unable to grok the myriad ramifications of the tinkering on other parts of the system. I dislike FB. But who is articulating the desired outcome other than FU FB? https://twitt…
I just had to ring the bell hanging over my desk, as for the first time in my life, I've convinced someone to change their opinion on this here internet. https://twitter.com/...
I think what is illuminating about this story is the breathtaking dishonesty of many Facebook critics. It's probably worth keeping in mind to what extent the “whatever side Facebook is on is the wrong one” heuristic applies to other more difficult to understand stories as well. h…
Takeaway message: here is yet another piece of legislation written by politicians with zero technical knowledge, who also consulted nobody with technical knowledge. It was bound to be flawed. https://twitter.com/...
We can argue about whether or not Facebook is “compatible with democracy” but the simple facts of the situation are that Australia - pushed heavily by Rupert Murdoch - has decided to put in place a plan to tax Google and Facebook for any links to news https://www.techdirt.com/...
I get the #facebook hate, but this is the best take on the facebook/google/Australia dust up I've seen. @techdirt @mmasnick https://www.techdirt.com/...
“Every government is the Australian government, as we all face this unaccountable power in the same way - it is time for governments to wake up.” Author Shoshana Zuboff tells @krishgm that tech giants have control and authority of the world's knowledge. https://www.channel4.com/.…
“This fight was not ‘Facebook v. Australia.’ Or ‘Facebook v. journalism’ even though some ignorant or dishonest people are making it out to be the case. This was always ‘Rupert Murdoch v. the open web.’ https://twitter.com/...
“But here, a bunch of lazy newspaper execs who failed to adapt and to figure out better internet business models not only want the traffic, they also want to get paid for it.” https://www.techdirt.com/...
Apologies to those who wanted AU news poll results without having to vote. Here's a snapshot so far. Most interesting is the # of people who say FB has done more than expected for public interest (but that was a hard Q to articulate, so maybe these answers don't mean much). https…
In news and analysis about the Australian legislation in the “make the platforms pay for news” battle, I look for who mentions that legacy media use their remaining clout with politicians to bring pressure on tech— but also to exclude smaller and newer publishers from the deal.
How I feel about US lawmakers railing against @Facebook for pulling out of Australia amid spat over new laws that would force Big Tech players to pay local publishers for content. I know it's early in 2021. But is anything really going to move in DC on digital policymaking? https…
Hear, hear! “First is the link tax. This is fundamentally against the principles of an open internet. The government saying that you can't link to a news site unless you pay a tax should be seen as inherently problematic for a long list of reasons.” https://twitter.com/...
@Techmeme @mmasnick Is the author aware that FB has blocked a broad swathe of Australian govt, police charity, union, retailer and emergency service sites too in its broad-brush, automated news-blocking sweep? I don't support the legislation, but Facebook's reaction has been a ma…