{"id":3143,"date":"2021-02-18T06:18:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T06:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1339491"},"modified":"2021-02-18T06:18:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T06:18:16","slug":"heres-why-facebook-users-in-australia-cant-see-news-in-their-news-feed-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=3143","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s why Facebook users in Australia can\u2019t see news in their News Feed anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Facebook said today<\/a> that it won\u2019t let publishers in Australia post their content on its platform, which means people in the country won\u2019t be able to see or share news and other kinds of articles from outlets there. This move comes after Australia proposed a law<\/a> that required big tech \u2014 especially Facebook and Google \u2014to pay publishers for the privilege of displaying content from third parties on their digital platforms.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The company said that it\u2019ll continue to display critical information such as communication by authorities and the COVID-19 information center.<\/p>\n

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Australians can’t see any news stories on Facebook this morning after the company banned local users from posting article links. Both local and international outlets are blocked. E.g. This is what the BBC looks like in Australia pic.twitter.com\/SJ4XBM8RnC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Frances Mao (@francesmao) February 17, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why did it come to this?<\/h2>\n

Australia\u2019s argument while drawing up this law was that big tech benefits from showing news on its platform (like Facebook\u2019s News Feed and Google\u2019s search results)<\/span>, so it should pay media sites. Facebook and Google reasoned that it\u2019s not mandatory for publishers to make their content available on their platforms. Plus, said publishers earn advertising revenue through clicks generated from these tech companies\u2019 platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Australian government didn\u2019t back down, Google threatened to pull its search services from the country<\/a>, as it thought the new law would \u201cbreak how search works.\u201d However, over the last few days, the search giant has agreed to pay for news content by signing multiple deals with publications, including Nine Entertainment<\/a> and News Corp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[Read: How Polestar is using blockchain to increase transparency]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

So what will happen now?<\/h2>\n

In today\u2019s announcement, Facebook said that last year, it helped Australian publications drive traffic worth $407 million AUD.<\/p>\n

The company added that it proposed to invest millions in the Australian news ecosystem and hoped to bring Facebook News \u2014 its product for news where it pays publishers \u2014 to the country. However, its proposals were ignored by the government:<\/p>\n

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But these proposals were overlooked. <\/span>Instead, we are left with a choice of either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits. Unfortunately, no business can operate that way.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/i><\/a>Facebook News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As Casey Newton notes in his newsletter Platformer, the news represents only four percent of posts on Facebook<\/a>, so the company is not losing out on much. However, the effects of the firm\u2019s moves are a bit striking. Facebook apparently used machine learning instead of a blacklist to block publishers, and that broke the Australian<\/a> Bureau of Meteorology\u2019s page<\/a>. Bad algorithm. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Facebook didn\u2019t just shut down Australian news sites, it shut down government agency pages: Hospitals, Fire & Rescue, Bureau of Meteorology, just hours after Zuckerberg spoke to our Govt & without warning. If a foreign government did this(e.g China), it would be called terrorism.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Claire Lehmann \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83e\udd98 (@clairlemon) February 18, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s more, because Australian publications also won\u2019t be able to post news on Facebook, the rest of the world can\u2019t see any news from the country on the social network. The ban could also promote blogs that may publish unverified news leading to a misinformation spread.<\/p>\n

All hopes are not lost though: Josh Frydenberg, a member of parliament, said that he had a conversation with Mark Zuckerberg today<\/a>, and agreed to \u201ccontinue our conversation to try to find a pathway forward.\u201d Hopefully, there will be some sort of agreement soon and users won\u2019t have to suffer from this bizarre clash between big tech and the government.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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