Facebook threatens news sharing ban in

Australia
• 1 September 2020
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Image copyrightNIALL CARSON/PA WIRE

Facebook has threatened to stop users from sharing news content in Australia as it prepares for
a new law forcing it to pay publishers for their articles.

Regulators want tech giants like Facebook and Google to pay for the content reposted from news outlets.

Last month Google warned its users that its search services could be "dramatically worse" as a result.

Facebook's latest move to block news sharing has escalated tensions between tech firms and regulators.

The social media network said that if the proposed legislation becomes law it will stop Australians from
sharing news on Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has drawn up the rules to "level the
playing field" between the tech giants and publishers that it says are struggling due to lost advertising
revenue.
The ACCC responded to Facebook's threat to block news content saying it was "ill-timed and
misconceived".

"The code simply aims to bring fairness and transparency to Facebook and Google's relationships with
Australian news media businesses," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
▪ Australia plans to make tech giants pay for news
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But in a blog post, Facebook's managing director for Australia and New Zealand Will Easton, said the
draft law "misunderstands the dynamics of the internet and will do damage to the very news
organisations the government is trying to protect".

He argued it would force Facebook to pay for content that publishers voluntarily place on its platform to
generate traffic back to their news sites.

Mr Easton claimed Facebook sent 2.3bn clicks from Facebook's newsfeed back to Australian news
websites, worth around A$200m ($148m; £110m) during the first five months of the year.

The blocking of news "is not our first choice - it is our last," he said, adding that Facebook's other
services that allow family and friends to connect will not be affected.

A Facebook spokesman told the BBC that it will "provide specific details soon" on how it will enforce the
ban.

Some business experts argue that tech firms should pay publishers for the quality news content that
they repost.

"Google, Facebook and others have been getting away with giving it away for free for too long," Michael
Wade, a professor at the IMD Business School in Switzerland and Singapore, told the BBC last month.

Google and Facebook do pay for some news content in specific markets, and said they plan to roll these
initiatives out to more countries.