Facebook announced on Wednesday they “will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content.”
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) created the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code at the request of the Australian Government.
Australia’s new law requires for Facebook and Google to pay news outlets for using, sharing, and linking their content.
According to the ACCC’s website, it is “to develop a mandatory code of conduct to address bargaining power imbalances between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms, specifically Google and Facebook.”
Unlike Google, Facebook refused to pay up.
In retaliation to the law, Facebook decided to block international and Australian news from being shared on their platforms.
According to CNet, “links and posts can’t be shared by an Australian audience. Australian publishers aren’t allowed to share or post content on Facebook Pages.”
