Discussion

• @donie Donie O'Sullivan on x

  Facebook seems to think having Nick Clegg front its arguments like this is a... good thing. https://about.fb.com/...

• @fiwa Filip Wallberg on x

  “Fewer than one post in every 25 in your News Feed will contain a link to a news story, and many users say they would like to see even less news and political content.” https://about.fb.com/...

• @katiecollins Katie Collins on x

  Lots in this post by Nick Clegg about what FB has done for publishers, but it somehow manages to overlook the role FB played in gutting the news industry during the pivot to video when it inflated its statistics in presentations to those same publishers https://about.fb.com/...

• @nick_clegg Nick Clegg on x

  The internet needs new rules that work for everyone, not just for big media corporations. By updating internet regulation, we can preserve what's best about it — the freedom of people to express themselves and entrepreneurs to build new things. https://about.fb.com/...

• @carolecadwalla Carole Cadwalladr on x

  Ha! Facebook so spectacularly miscalculated last week that Nick Clegg has been forced to go full Breitbart ‘The Real Story of What Happened with News on Facebook in Australia’ 😂 https://twitter.com/...

• @farkasjohan Johan Farkas on x

  Facebook: “New rules only work if they benefit more people, not protect the interests of a few.” Me: “Great! So you're in favour of breaking up Facebook and taxing tech companies?” https://about.fb.com/...

• @jmgrygiel @jmgrygiel on x

  We need a gaslighting emoji https://twitter.com/...

• @professorshaw Tamsin Shaw on x

  “It's like forcing car makers to fund radio stations because people might listen to them in the car — and letting the stations set the price.” I'm a bit tired but to me it seems more like maybe making radio stations pay royalties to songwriters...? https://about.fb.com/...

• @hoofnagle Chris Hoofnagle on x

  Facebook's rhetorical strategy has remained mostly unchanged: reframe issues and then claim that the company is “misunderstood” https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @mattnavarra Matt Navarra on x

  Facebook pledges to pay $1bn for news But will the money reach those who deserve or need it most? https://www.ft.com/...

• @digiphile Alex Howard on x

  “The mandatory arbitration that was the key to Australia's proposed new law has been reduced to a matter of theory. @Facebook can now decide to offer different publishers whatever amount it wants, including nothing at all, without risk of penalty.” In FB v AU, the nation blinked …

• @lindamottram Linda Mottram on x

  “In Australia, Facebook just shot the hostages.” This could be the best piece yet on FB's deal with Australia. https://www.niemanlab.org/... via @NiemanLab

• @oz_f Osman Faruqi on x

  Didn't think it was possibly to get more cynical about the industry here, but watching media outlets interview their own executives to try and push through this code... can hardly whinge about the lack of trust from the audience anymore.

• @ruskin147 Rory Cellan-Jones on x

  “It's like forcing car makers to fund radio stations because people might listen to them in the car — and letting the stations set the price” - Facebook's Nick Clegg comes out punching on Australia's media law. https://about.fb.com/...

• @boutotcom Bruno Boutot on x

  Facebook is a corporate nightmare that has done very real and meaningful damage to democracy. Australian regulators carry water for Rupert Murdoch and have been proposing a policy that would, as Tim Berners-Lee says, make the web “unworkable.” @jbenton https://www.niemanlab.org/.…

• @markgottlieb Mark Gottlieb on x

  This is very good analysis. The simplest solution was always to make Facebook and Google pay their fair share of tax. Facebook got everything it wanted out of Australia by being willing to do what the other guy wouldn't https://www.niemanlab.org/...

• @jrhennessy Henno on x

  good take, but a) forcing this kind of deal is basically what the big boys wanted from the beginning and b) i don't think it'll be a global deterrent to others trying it on https://www.niemanlab.org/...

• @jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x

  True: “The money is not and has never been the issue here. Facebook & Google are both perfectly willing to throw money at publishers to hold off regulation. (I wouldn't be surprised if there's a petty cash drawer... labeled Hush Money For Publishers.)” https://www.niemanlab.org/.…

• @davidclinchnews David Clinch on x

  @jbenton I'm wondering if these new purpose-built news products, containing valuable news content from reliable news sources and powered by tech giants might be an embryonic opportunity for highly-monetized great journalism to flourish...fake news-free.

• @oz_f Osman Faruqi on x

  Ignore basically all the commentary from Australia on this issue. The think thanks and media lobbyists here got crushed, but they obviously won't acknowledge it. This piece from Norman Lab gets to the heart of it. https://www.niemanlab.org/...

• @rasmus_kleis Rasmus Kleis Nielsen on x

  What platforms don't want to give up, @jbenton writes, is “the power to pick winners ..., the power to decide what it's willing to pay, and [the] power to maintain their main advantage as platforms, which is to aggregate huge amounts of free information” https://www.niemanlab.org…

• @pressgazette @pressgazette on x

  Facebook has got everything it wanted out of Australia, according to @NiemanReports: “A bad company facing bad regulations distills down to pure power, and by shooting the hostages, Facebook made it very clear where that still lies.” https://www.niemanlab.org/...

• @corinne_podger Corinne Podger on x

  .@jbenton on Morrison's capitulation: “The mandatory arbitration that was the key to Australia's proposed new law has been reduced to a matter of theory. Facebook can now decide to offer publishers whatever it wants, including nothing at all.” https://www.niemanlab.org/... #auspo…

• @pkafka Peter Kafka on x

  Good smart read. https://twitter.com/...

• @davidclinchnews David Clinch on x

  @jbenton All great points. I would be interested in more on the importance or relevance of the purpose-built news products that FB and Google are now going to be paying publishers for the right to host their full content in while news links continue as usual in search and social.

• @meadea Amanda Meade on x

  Updated: If the government were to later decide to apply the code to Facebook, the company could pull news from Australia again. Facebook reverses Australia news ban after government makes media code amendments https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

• @nicholasvinocur Nicholas Vinocur on x

  @jason_kint I think this is one of the more spurious claims. Even if the gains are indirect, news is central to the ‘communities’ experience they've created. Remove it, and what do people who are not next-of-kin or close friends convene around on Fb?

• @damiancollins Damian Collins on x

  You can read my comments here in response to the agreement reached between Facebook and the Australian government on compensation for news publishers https://twitter.com/...

• @jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x

  Remember that Murdoch wanted to BE Zuckerberg. He bought Delphi Internet in '93 (where I briefly worked) & turned it into a multi-million-dollar shit show, then MySpace in '05 & lost a fortune. He retreated behind his presses as a sniper against the internet he could not tame.

• @matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x

  “One major ad buyer instructed his team to snap up ad inventory from media sites, anticipating price jumps. Anecdotally, FB users have one less reason to open the app. No doubt Zuckerberg had these stats when he decided to reverse the ban.” - @jslez https://www.wired.com/...

• @damiancollins Damian Collins on x

  Like in Australia, we need to look at whether the UK marketplace for advertising is fair to publishers, through the new Digital Markets Unit in the @CMAgovUK. My comments for @TelegraphTech @JamesLiamCook @MattHField https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...

• @tamaleaver Tama Leaver on x

  So, Facebook have struck a deal, news is coming back in days, and by the Bargaining Code becomes law it will likely apply to ... *checks notes* ... no one. Facebook to restore news in new deal with government https://www.afr.com/...

• @alexeheath Alex Heath on x

  this seems like the key concession FB wanted: “a decision to designate a platform under the Code must take into account whether a digital platform has made a significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry through reaching commercial agreements”

• @alexeheath Alex Heath on x

  Unless I'm missing something.. - Australian gov demands FB pay for news in the country (through a gov-appointed arbiter no less) - FB says nah, turns off news - Gov changes law so it likely won't apply to FB at all Failed extortion? https://joshfrydenberg.com.au/ ...

• @alexeheath Alex Heath on x

  have seen a lot of coverage of this Australia media code update focus on the additional time given for tech and media cos to reach deals.. that doesn't seem like the biggest change here

• @jmgrygiel @jmgrygiel on x

  What a world we live in when corp pr overtly notes how they're “pleased” after muscling media policy by literally disabling the news in the country https://twitter.com/...

• @jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x

  Now the question is whether Australia will recognize this as the exercise of monopoly power — my Murdoch — and convene @MrKRudd' royal commission to investigate the fear in which he and his mob hold every other institution in the country. Should I hold my breath?

• @alexeheath Alex Heath on x

  FB has its news tab and already pays media cos around the world to be in. will def do this in Australia now if it isn't already and avoid this law entirely. / scene

• @mathewi Mathew Ingram on x

  From the sounds of it, Facebook reversed its ban because the Australian government promised that if it cut enough side deals with publishers, the law would no longer apply https://www.bbc.co.uk/...

• @zsk Zoe Kleinman on x

  I have a feeling this is not the end of this particular drama. https://www.bbc.co.uk/...

• @jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x

  In Australia, everybody's a loser, except Murdoch, who kidnapped them all. Pols wrote terrible, protectionist law to harm the net. Media soul their souls to the devil, Rupert. Google & FB made payoffs to avoid the law. The public? Nobody gives a shit about them.

• @matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x

  The amendments aren't online, but based on the reporting, all Facebook got was 2 extra months to negotiate. That's nothing. This is Zuck trying to save face after a strategic misstep. https://twitter.com/...

• @matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x

  By pulling out of Australia, Facebook just showed how valuable publishers are to its services. It had maintained it was the one adding value, but as it turns out, Facebook just proved the thesis that both are adding value, but FB is the one with bargaining leverage. https://twitt…

• @kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x

  BREAKING: “We're restoring news on Facebook in Australia in the coming days” says Facebook VP of global news partnerships @campbell_brown. Full statement: https://twitter.com/...

• @ryanlcooper Ryan Cooper on x

  “just two days into the Facebook news ban, for the first time, the most downloaded app in Australia's Apple app store was the publishing platform of the country's national broadcaster, ABC News.” https://www.wired.com/...

• @mikeisaac Rat King on x

  this is a stalling tactic for both sides. Amendment to Australian bill gives AU Govt and Facebook two months to negotiate the final outcome. In the meantime, Facebook agreed to restore news links throughout Australia. story with @damiencave https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @profcarroll David Carroll on x

  Strikes me that Australia won the gambit. They basically wanted to establish negotiations with the platforms for bargaining terms. Expect more nations to follow suit. https://twitter.com/...

• @unenergy Digby Bamford on x

  @jeffjarvis A thread I posted earlier today. Today I've been sorting News Corp articles/posts where Facebook is mentioned over the past 12 years. News Corp were on the attack against Facebook the whole time. FB should sue them because, as a whole, it is defamatory https://twitter…

• @fbnewsroom @fbnewsroom on x

  Update: We're pleased that we've been able to reach an agreement with the Australian government and appreciate the constructive discussions we've had with Treasurer Frydenberg and Minister Fletcher over the past week. Read our full statement. https://about.fb.com/...

• @iboy George Nimeh on x

  Australia government caves. Facebook's monopoly looks more pronounced than ever. Australian news will return to the platform. Deals will be brokered. In the meantime, I bet a lot of Australians were enjoying more cats and less doom scrolling on Facebook. 🤷 https://twitter.com/...

• @joshgnosis Josh Taylor on x

  This line says it all really. If they're forced into the code they'll do it again https://www.facebook.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @fboversight @fboversight on x

  In other words, regulator caves to Facebook's demands. Facebook wants regulation but only if they like it. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @fboversight @fboversight on x

  Facebook brought an entire country to its knees to agree to its demands. Now Facebook have forced the Australian regulator's hand to meet those demands. The ultimate exercise of monopoly power. https://twitter.com/...

• @likebutterfield @likebutterfield on x

  to be clear, Facebook is consistently making micro-decisions about what content is shown in our feeds. this decision in australia was just an algorithm adjustment with a brighter light shining on it 🔦 https://twitter.com/...

• @theshovel @theshovel on x

  Facebook has struck a deal with the government to restore news in Australia. Also Facebook now owns Tasmania.

• @slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x

  News is back for Australia. Nothing was really decided. Whatever happens, @facebook was large enough to likely negotiate its own legislation. Breaking apart Facebook is absolutely essential to reining in their power and control. https://twitter.com/...

• @robpegoraro Rob Pegoraro on x

  Lots to parse in this statement from Facebook about news in Australia, but focus on “allow us to support the publishers we choose to” and “we will retain the ability to decide if news appears on Facebook so that we won't automatically be subject to a forced negotiation.” https://…

• @harriettatham Harriet Tatham on x

  Life without moderation was so delightful while it lasted https://twitter.com/...

• @qanda @qanda on x

  Facebook will walk back its block on Australian news sites in the coming days, according to a statement from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher. | @abcnews #QandA https://www.abc.net.au/...

• @privacyfocused @privacyfocused on x

  Noooooo... :( https://twitter.com/...

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  Looks like Australia caved to Facebook after less than a week https://twitter.com/...