Facebook Blocks All News Sharing on Its Platforms in Australia

Facebook has followed through on its threat to ban users from sharing news on its platform in Australia, in response to proposed media laws in the country that the company claims "fundamentally misunderstand" its relationship with publishers who share news content.

facebook
The move is a retaliation to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) proposed Media Bargaining law, which seeks to redress the balance in terms of the bargaining power between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms.

The law would allow Australian news publications to negotiate for fair payment for their journalist's work, effectively forcing social media companies to pay for news content.

Facebook and Google have had three months to negotiate with Australian media organizations to find a solution, but those discussions have failed to reach an agreement. Facebook concluded that the law "seeks to penalize Facebook for content it didn't take or ask for," while an inquiry last month saw Google go so far as to threaten to pull its search engine from the country entirely.

Facebook' decision means Australian news publishers are no longer able to share stories on the platform, while Facebook users won't be able to see or share international news to local Facebook users. At the same time, Facebook users overseas won't be able to read or share Australian content.

Announcing the change in a press release, Facebook explained its reasoning behind the nationwide content block and its total opposition to the proposed change in law:

The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content. It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter.

This discussion has focused on US technology companies and how they benefit from news content on their services. We understand many will ask why the platforms may respond differently. The answer is because our platforms have fundamentally different relationships with news. Google Search is inextricably intertwined with news and publishers do not voluntarily provide their content. On the other hand, publishers willingly choose to post news on Facebook, as it allows them to sell more subscriptions, grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue.

In fact, and as we have made clear to the Australian government for many months, the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favor of the publishers — which is the reverse of what the legislation would require the arbitrator to assume. Last year Facebook generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated AU$407 million.

For Facebook, the business gain from news is minimal. News makes up less than 4% of the content people see in their News Feed. Journalism is important to a democratic society, which is why we build dedicated, free tools to support news organisations around the world in innovating their content for online audiences.

Australia's communications minister Paul Fletcher hit out at the decision, telling Australia's ABC News this morning that Facebook needs to "think very carefully about what this means for its reputation and standing."

"They're effectively saying, on our platform, there will not be any information from organizations which employ paid journalists, which have fact checking processes, editorial policies," said Fletcher. "They're effectively saying any information that is available on our site does not come from these reliable sources."

The fallout from the ban is already impacting a range of Facebook-hosted organizations in the country, with the ban curtailing access to the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Queensland Health, and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA. Other pages for charities, politicians, sports groups, and other non-news organizations have also been affected.

However, the Australian government is standing by the law, which passed the lower house of parliament on Wednesday. It has broad cross-party support and will be debated again in parliament on Thursday, according to the BBC.

"We will legislate this code. We want the digital giants paying traditional news media businesses for generating original journalistic content," said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg who added that "the eyes of the world are watching what's happening here". He said he'd also had a discussion with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg which had been "constructive".

The decision by the social network has been met with anger among many of its Australian users, with the hashtag #DeleteFacebook currently trending on Twitter.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Announces 13 Automakers Planning to Offer iPhone Car Keys

Friday June 27, 2025 11:42 am PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple said that 13...
anker power bank recall

PSA: Anker Recalls Multiple Power Banks Due to Fire Risk

Friday June 27, 2025 4:16 pm PDT by
Popular accessory maker Anker this month launched two separate recalls for its power banks, some of which may be a fire risk. The first recall affects Anker PowerCore 10000 Power Banks sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 in the United States. Anker says that these power banks have a "potential issue" with the battery inside, which can lead to overheating, melting of plastic...
Chase Sapphire Reserve Apple Perk Feature

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Introduces New Perk for Apple Customers

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Chase this week announced a series of new perks for its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card, and one of them is for a pair of Apple services. Specifically, the credit card now offers complimentary annual subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, a value of up to $250 per year. If you are already paying for Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music directly through Apple, those subscriptions will...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in a Few Months With These 12 New Features

Thursday June 26, 2025 2:00 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Here's Which Vehicle Brands Will and Won't Offer Apple's CarPlay Ultra

Friday June 27, 2025 9:52 am PDT by
Apple last month announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. There was news this week about which automakers will and won't offer CarPlay Ultra, and we have provided an updated list below. CarPlay Ultra is currently limited to newer Aston Martin vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. Fortunately, if you cannot...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Tuesday June 24, 2025 3:40 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...

Top Rated Comments

Abstract Avatar
57 months ago
I’m Canadian living in Australia, and I’m actually on Facebook’s side on this one.

The Australian government is basically doing this for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp (Rupert is sort of a big deal around here), but even if they weren’t, it would still be wrong for thr government to do this. News outlets want Facebook to pay for news published on Facebook. Facebook probably has no problem with news links being posted on their site because it helps make them socially relevant.

On the other hand, news outlets benefit from the extra clicks, and ad revenue that goes with it. Some people get all their news on Facebook (and Twitter), so this seems to be a symbiotic relationship for the media and FB.

The government should stay out of it.
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xizdun Avatar
57 months ago
What’s Facebook? Can’t wait for Apple to kill Facebook like it did Adobe Flash. ? Good riddance. Looking forward to iOS 14.5.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Celtic-moniker Avatar
57 months ago

I’m Canadian living in Australia, and I’m actually on Facebook’s side on this one.

The Australian government is basically doing this for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp (Rupert is sort of a big deal around here), but even if they weren’t, it would still be wrong for thr government to do this. News outlets want Facebook to pay for news published on Facebook. Facebook probably has no problem with news links being posted on their site because it helps make them socially relevant.

On the other hand, news outlets benefit from the extra clicks, and ad revenue that goes with it. Some people get all their news on Facebook (and Twitter), so this seems to be a symbiotic relationship for the media and FB.

The government should stay out of it.
You are being deliberately one sided with the facts here. That material shared on Facebook brings eyes and ad revenue to Facebook that far rivals the eyes and revenue that those media outlets gain. By a factor of around 10 to one. It isn’t just social relevance. It is very much a driver of their revenue.
Additionally, Facebook tracks, records and sells the data metrics you develop by clicking through to those sites. As a surrogate central body they have capacity to do this that no other individual media outlet has to achieve. They, without a shadow of a doubt are making far more money from each shared story than the news service itself is making - from material that they never had to put any energy or money into creating.
lt’s a government‘s responsibility to regulate this. Once upon a time the news agent down the street had to pay they newspaper printer for to copies of the paper they sold. Facebook should be paying the same.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
k1121j Avatar
57 months ago
Facebook the 5 year old child stomping it’s feet. ?
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hortod1 Avatar
57 months ago
If you’re getting your news from Facebook - regardless of who published it - then that’s problem number one
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mike_Trivisonno Avatar
57 months ago
lol What a joke. Australia should just ban facebook from their internet.
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)