CARDINAL NEWS Headlines, News Highlights and Current Events for Thursday, February 18 2021
People have been responding to Facebook blocking its users in Australia from sharing news, in response to a proposed law which would make technology companies pay for news content on their platform. YouTube Tips ⓘ
Facebook has ended news posting and sharing of news content in Australia in response to an Australian government plan to force online sites to pay publishers for content.
The Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said his government will not be intimidated by Facebook, describing the move to “unfriend Australia” as arrogant and disappointing. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook’s actions were unnecessary and heavy-handed, and Facebook will damage its reputation.
Australian Minister of Health Greg Hunt called Facebook’s action an assault on a sovereign nation, and assault on peoples’ freedom and an utter abuse of big technologies’ market power of control over technology.
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PRIME MINISTER
“Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing. I am in regular contact with the leaders of other nations on these issues.These actions will only confirm the concerns that an increasing number of countries are expressing about the behaviour of BigTech companies who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them. They may be changing the world, but that doesn’t mean they run it.
We will not be intimidated by BigTech seeking to pressure our Parliament as it votes on our important News Media Bargaining Code. Just as we weren’t intimidated when Amazon threatened to leave the country and when Australia drew other nations together to combat the publishing of terrorist content on social media platforms.
I encourage Facebook to constructively work with the Australian Government, as Google recently demonstrated in good faith.”
— Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia (on Facebook)
Users found the Facebook pages of all local and global news sites unavailable, and several government health and emergency pages were also blocked. Facebook later asserted this was a mistake and many of these pages are now back online.
“Facebook had blocked some incredibly important sites, including some emergency services and Department of Health sites. I think that wasn’t a good look for Facebook.”
— Dr Susannah Eliott CEO, Australian Science Media Centre
Susannah Eliott said there were two major outcomes from the controversy and action by Facebook: 1) The action highlights that blocking news sites might incidentally block information from news sites and promote misinformation from non-news sites, and 2) some experts see this as an opportunity for people to seriously look at the news they are consuming, and that they start look beyond Facebook for their news.
Eliott said authorities and media experts were extremely concerned about Facebook blocking news sites just before Australia is about to roll out the Coronavirus COVID-19 vaccination program.
Both Google and Facebook have fought the law, saying it unfairly “penalizes” their platforms. However, Google has in recent days signed payment deals with major Australian media outlets.
'Time to reactivate MySpace': the day Australia woke up to a Facebook news blackout https://t.co/E9bYbW4CYa
— The Guardian (@guardian) February 18, 2021
Facebook news ban: #DeleteFacebook movement gains traction across Australia. https://t.co/piWt8OkbFe pic.twitter.com/tFf97drZeE
— The West Australian (@westaustralian) February 18, 2021
Facebook censors Australia: Facebook will block Australian users and publishers from sharing news links in response to new bill.
Besides being the platform of choice for monitoring and coercing the public, another reason to #DeleteFacebook.
Report: https://t.co/XaCxVvjSrn
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) February 18, 2021
EXPLAINER: What's happening between Google, Facebook and Australia and why it matters. https://t.co/A9ql86crPG
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 18, 2021
Facebook Goes Nuclear On Australia – Blocks All News Sharing Across Continent https://t.co/wEFHmZzJQQ
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 18, 2021
What is Facebook without news? People and publishers in Australia are now finding out (CNN). YouTube Tips ⓘ
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Facebook blocks Australians from sharing news, a milestone in the increasingly frantic jockeying between governments, media and powerful tech companies that one Australian minister called “an assault on a sovereign nation” and abuse of power. https://t.co/wEKkLwPTxi
— ABC News (@ABC) February 18, 2021
Australians woke to empty news feeds on their Facebook pages after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a dispute with the government over paying for content https://t.co/SnHXxKVNR7
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/SAI/status/1362392710540361732
So, our new flag. #FacebookAustralia pic.twitter.com/ApAFiZZQh2
— Jack Hudson (@jhudson_10) February 18, 2021
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is behaving like North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un by blocking news in Australia, Mark McGowan has said, as he called on the United States to intervene. https://t.co/01bRVYlvcR pic.twitter.com/FkR7eundfD
— The West Australian (@westaustralian) February 18, 2021
Facebook's botched Australia news ban blocks health departments, charities and its own pages https://t.co/KFucZ9RAON
— The Guardian (@guardian) February 18, 2021
Whatever you think of the proposed bill, Facebook's behavior in Australia should be a clarion call to publishers, government agencies, and any organizations with a public interest purpose that it's time to divest from Facebook as a communication platform https://t.co/gUrZUAv9Jc
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) February 18, 2021
It’s striking that the threat of such a set-up was so profound that Facebook has pulled out of news in Australia completely. https://t.co/7IHl9NBKLs
— 360MediaX (@360mediaX) February 18, 2021
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▶ This CARDINAL NEWS article features video(s) available on Twitter. You may need to touch the play button twice, or touch and hold the play button and select ‘Open’ from a popup menu. ▶
https://twitter.com/RCHMelbourne/status/1362317083124535298
Fight over ad revenues: #Facebook unfriends #Australia, is your country next? FB news blackout marks a dramatic escalation of giant's dispute with Canberra https://t.co/rV4kXXwDSX
— Gulf News (@gulf_news) February 18, 2021
.@ScottMorrisonMP on the Facebook ban. #FacebookAustralia
More on this story: https://t.co/9BRyxW4JTc pic.twitter.com/Yf8cEH85EN— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) February 18, 2021
We are extremely concerned that NATSILS has been blocked by #FacebookAustralia, so have some of our members. This is a human rights issue, silencing the voices of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people, our representative peak bodies. This is how we connect with community. pic.twitter.com/EsUeoKZ2mG
— NATSILS (@NATSILS_) February 18, 2021
Note: News on this page MAY BE ENTERED THROUGHOUT THE DAY, and SOME NEW INCIDENTS may be ENTERED on this page after the initial publish date as follow-up for the day’s incidents.
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