Treasurer says Facebook has ‘damaged its reputation’ with Australian news ban – By Josh Taylor (The Guardian) / Feb 17 2021
Company says it has made decision ‘with a heavy heart’ in response to proposed media bargaining code
Facebook damaged its reputation by banning Australians from seeing or posting news content on its site in response to the federal government’s news media code, treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said.
The tech giant’s Australian and New Zealand managing director, Will Easton, said the ban would block links to Australian publishers from being posted, while no Australian users would be able to share or see content from any news outlets, both Australian and international.
“The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,” he said in a blog post published on Thursday morning. “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.”
