Prohibited the sharing of news in protest against the new law, users started the Boycott Facebook Movement

There is a growing conflict between Facebook and the Australian government over the payment of news content. Protesting the new law, Facebook has also banned Australian opposition leaders’ accounts, the State Health Department and the Meteorological Department’s page. Not only this, but Facebook has also blocked its own page in Australia.

Australian publishers may continue to publish news content on Facebook, but links and posts may not be viewed or shared by Australian viewers, Facebook said in a statement. That is, Australian users cannot share Australian or international news on Facebook. Apart from this, international users outside Australia also cannot share Australian news. Australia’s emergency service has been badly affected by this ban.

Why is Facebook opposing the new law?

In fact, Facebook is opposing the legislation in the Senate which says that Facebook and Google will have to pay money to news companies in exchange for sharing the news. Facebook’s regional managing director William Easton said the proposed law fundamentally misstates the relationship between our platform and the publishers who use it to share news content. At the same time, Australia’s Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said that the government would not back down from its decision.

Facebook-Google condemned the proposed law

The Australian Parliament is debating proposed laws that would make two platforms strike deals to pay for Australian news. Both platforms have condemned the proposed laws. Google has also threatened to shut down its search engine in the country. However, Google is entering into payment agreements with Australian news media companies under its news showcase model. News plays a much larger role in Google’s business model than Facebook.

Australians run the Boycott Facebook Movement

Australians have started boycotting Facebook after it banned users from sharing news content. Facebook users are running a ‘delete Facebook’ movement to pressurize the company. The #deletefacebook, #FacebookWeNeedToTalk and #BoycottZuckerberghashtags trending on Twitter. Many people have removed the Facebook app from their phones.