Facebook's Australia ban is acute for people in places like Fiji, who rely on phone plans with cheap Facebook access as going to news websites costs more data

Media experts fear that communities reliant on the site for information will suffer significant impact

The Guardian 2021-02-21 Sheldon Chanel

Context & Ripple Effects

When Facebook carried out its September 2020 threat to block news rather than pay for it under Australia's proposed media bargaining law, the blast radius extended well past the negotiating parties. The February 18 ban stripped news Pages from the platform for all users, and in the process removed posts from Australian government health and weather feeds.

The sharpest collateral damage is in Fiji, where mobile plans bundle cheap or free Facebook access while opening a news website directly costs far more data. For many Fijians, Facebook is not one channel among several for information — it is the affordable one, which turns a dispute between Canberra and Menlo Park into a news-access problem for people with no seat at the table.

First-order effects

Fijian users on Facebook-bundled phone plans lose their low-data route to news overnight, since visiting publisher websites directly costs more data than their plans price in.
Australian public-health and weather authorities find their own pages caught in the ban, forcing them to communicate through channels other than Facebook while the block lasts.

Second-order effects

Facebook is pushed onto the defensive on information access, responding with a defense citing $600M in news-industry support since 2018 and at least $1B more planned — an argument aimed as much at other governments weighing similar laws as at Canberra.
Other governments drafting platform-payment rules can now see the third-country spillover costs of a news blockade, which changes the leverage calculus in their own negotiations with Facebook.

Third-order effects

Zero-rated Facebook access has made the platform de facto news infrastructure in parts of the Pacific, so any regulatory fight in a large market can sever information supply in small markets that had no say in it.
The episode strengthens the case for treating news distribution on dominant platforms as a systemically important service — with regulators likely to weigh collateral-access harms, not just payment terms, when setting the rules of engagement.

The trend: Platform regulation in one large market increasingly cascades into information-access shocks for smaller countries whose populations depend on the platform as their affordable news channel.

Discussion

@dailypostdan Dan McGarry on x
@emilybell @mmasnick @foofdawg @robpegoraro Amanda Watson, who probably knows more about Pacific islands telecoms than anyone, explains the dependency problem that's developed in the Pacific, and how it's biting today: https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@glynmoody Glyn Moody on x
perhaps communities should learn to use more than one site - it creates a terrible vulnerability, as evidenced here... https://twitter.com/...
@susanamet Susan Metcalfe on x
“Across the Pacific, thousands of people are on pre-paid data phone plans which include cheap access to Facebook. Those on limited incomes... cannot go to original source websites without using more data, and spending more money” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@ahawatson @ahawatson on x
There's confusion across the #Pacific region about the practical ramifications of Facebook's Australian news ban, as I said to @sschanel16 @GuardianAus @BenDohertycorro https://www.theguardian.com/ ... #tech #digital #ICT #socialmedia #ANUExpert @anudpa @ANUasiapacific @ANUBellSc…
@politicoryan Ryan Heath on x
Case study #84 of tech giants not knowing what they do before they do it: Facebook's Australia ban threatens to leave Pacific nations without key news source https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@robpegoraro Rob Pegoraro on x
This is a great, unsettling point: Facebook's “Free Basics” program subsidizes zero-rated Internet access in developing countries, with Facebook atop the list of sites exempt from mobile data caps. Now some islanders used to Facebook-first Internet have lost much of their news. h…
@bendohertycorro Ben Doherty on x
“From people all around the world: Fijians in South Sudan, Tongans in Utah, Pacific Islanders are everywhere, and they are telling us they are not seeing anything out of Australia.” | @sschanel16 @sueahearn @ahawatson https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
The Australia-Facebook spat isn't about Rupert Murdoch, that's a tired line by tech lobbyists. “From Australia, the Guardian visited the Samoa Observer, Vanuatu's Daily Post, the Fiji Times, and Papua New Guinea's Post Courier. None had visible posts.” https://www.theguardian.com…
@tmcw Tom MacWright on x
the ‘reciprocity’ angle. problems here: - lazy about distinction between raw personal data and the handcrafted unified data in openstreetmap - strava, one of the examples, actually did try to process their raw data to help out openstreetmap https://labs.strava.com/slide/ https://…
@tmcw Tom MacWright on x
casual fearmongering about companies ‘buying their way in’ to openstreetmap elections, one would assume with superpac money buying billboards in some pub in london or something https://twitter.com/...
@tmcw Tom MacWright on x
this is... not a great article (quick thread) https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Vox Sara Morrison on x
Facebook's news ban in Australia is draconian. But it might not be wrong.
@umabp Uma Patel on x
ABC has used facebook's ban to prompt visitors to download its app.. it became the most downloaded app in Australia.... although the next four are all owned by Facebook and the 6th is a company fb tried to buy https://twitter.com/...
@glenngabe Glenn Gabe on x
Traffic dropped 20% or more after Facebook blocked news in Australia (even showing a 93% drop during a specific timeframe) -> In Australia, Facebook's ban on sharing news stories has sent publishers' traffic tumbling Chartbeat graphs below: https://www.niemanlab.org/... https://t…
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
A homegrown Australian news app is now No. 1 in the App Store. Features include: reverse-chronological feed; less misinformation than the leading brand; and the “stories” here don't disappear after 24 hours! I think it could have a chance .... https://twitter.com/...
@steipete Peter Steinberger on x
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.” Best take I've read on the Australian law lately. https://www.techdirt.com/...
@carissaveliz Carissa Vliz on x
Not surprising. When there are no true news, fake news fill the void. Bad idea, #Facebook. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@soloversal Soloversal Saturnalia on x
Accurate: “the link tax - is fundamentally against the principles of an open internet” - @mmasnick // theres no wiggle room here - you're either against this gross government overreach, or you're against the open internet, of which free linking is a pillar https://www.techdirt.co…
@juliepsamuels Julie Samuels on x
If you're going to read one thing about the Australia situation, it should be this. Thoughtful and measured, as usual, from the incomparable ⁦@mmasnick⁩. https://www.techdirt.com/...
@jeunj Victor Rodrigues on x
This view of the Australian news tax is pretty spot-on and commends Facebook for taking the stance it did. https://www.techdirt.com/...
@sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x
“...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. .....as any economist will tell you, taxing something doesn't just bring in revenue, it decreases whatever you tax.” https:…
@glenngabe Glenn Gabe on x
But this is good to see... people might be going directly to the source now -> App Annie: Australian Broadcasting Corporation's news app was briefly the most downloaded app on the AU App Store after Facebook's news ban and is now second https://www.theverge.com/... h/t @umabp htt…
@stanfordcis Stanford Cis on x
More on the Australian fight to force online services to pay news publishers (mostly Rupert Murdoch) for the right to <checks notes> send traffic to publishers' websites https://apnews.com/...
@gumleafwhistler Gumleaf on x
@ArachneLatro @neilwrites ‘Australian news sites recorded a steep decline in traffic as a result of the block. Audience tracking company Nielsen reported total sessions for news content declined 16%’...' https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@paulbrislen @paulbrislen on x
Now show us traffic from all sources to the news sites. I'm guessing over the next few days it'll normalise amd costs to publishers will come down as they pay for less advertising. https://twitter.com/...
@macaulaybalkan @macaulaybalkan on x
Wow traffic from Facebook to news sites plummeted after Facebook blocked links from news sites. Incredible #dataviz https://twitter.com/...
@neilwrites Neil Varcoe on x
Lots of chatter on this thread — to be clear, this graph shows the drop in traffic from Facebook to Australian news publishers. It's obvious, yes, but that makes it no less dramatic. The article goes on explain the situation in detail. It's worth a read 🙏🏻 https://twitter.com/...
@cameronwilson @cameronwilson on x
This is obviously good but, as with news traffic, I think the real test is in a month. Do people develop habits to seek out more news? Or do they forget about it when it's not in its feed https://twitter.com/...
@chrismessina Chris Messina on x
Facebook's @AppStore reviews are brutal. At least they seem to be pissing off people on both sides of the free speech/censorship debate. And most of Australia. 🇦🇺 /cc @mmasnick https://twitter.com/...
@nathanblawrence Nathan Lawrence on x
I don't think it's the web prompt so much as it is that the entire country now directly has to seek out news and this is the most universally applicable outlet. https://twitter.com/...
@macotani Mac Otani on x
Highly digital newsrooms that have resources and strong relationships with their audiences started moving away from Facebook a long time ago, and are less affected by its volatility. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@neerajka Neeraj K. Agrawal on x
this would be a good times for news sites to push RSS https://twitter.com/...
@umabp Uma Patel on x
Or will audiences just sub out of news entirely... my bet is that users will still need reliable information, especially right now, and will gravitate more towards checking a news site first thing in the morning instead of their Facebook feed
@brianboyer Brian Boyer on x
Had a feeling this'd be an own goal. I'll bet TV news sees a spike too, and that both gains will sustain. https://twitter.com/...
@brooklynmarie Brooke Binkowski on x
See, this is how @Facebook is choking off my industry worldwide. https://twitter.com/...
@umabp Uma Patel on x
*nb readers go directly to a website instead of being referred via a platform such as Facebook are more likely to become paying subscribers
@umabp Uma Patel on x
It'll be really interesting to see how audience behaviours change in the next couple of months in Australia - will habits trend more towards checking news directly from news sites (instead of relying on their friends to refer them)...
@rasmus_kleis Rasmus Kleis Nielsen on x
Well played ABC. (Now stay tuned for the lobbying against public service media to resume.) https://twitter.com/...
@karlbode Karl Bode on x
oh no, news outlets being approached directly for news https://twitter.com/...
@dhh @dhh on x
The internet is healing. https://www.theverge.com/...
@umabp Uma Patel on x
This article shows that even with the ban, there is still a bit of FB referral traffic coming through.... I would LOVE to peak inside some of the newsrooms and see how the volume of direct traffic changed immediately after the ban https://www.niemanlab.org/...

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