(Bloomberg) – Facebook Inc. began restricting the sharing of news about its service in Australia, disregarding a controversial proposed law requiring technology companies to pay publishers when their articles are posted by users.
The ban is the strongest action to date in response to the proposed legislation, which Facebook and Alphabet Inc. Google’s will force publishers to pay for the value their articles generate on digital platforms. Newspapers have demanded such payments, arguing that they should be fairly compensated for their journalism, as Google and Facebook capture a large share of the advertising market.
Facebook’s decision prevents those in Australia from sharing news stories and prevents users from sharing articles from Australian publishers worldwide. The action threatens to shut down one of the most widely used ways for people to access online news and information.
It is possible that the proposed law of Australia could set a precedent with other countries around the world that have seen how Facebook and Google affect their respective news industries. While opposed to the measure in Australia, Google and Facebook have signed separate, voluntary agreements to pay publishers. Earlier Wednesday, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., a proponent of the Australian proposal, said they had reached an agreement with Google for the search giant to pay for the journalism of the Wall Street Journal and its other newspapers.
Josh Frydenberg, the treasurer of Australia, tweeted that he had a ‘constructive conversation’ with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday morning Australian time. “He raised some issues with the Government’s news media negotiation code and we agreed to continue our conversation to try to find a way forward,” he wrote. A Facebook spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last summer, Facebook threatened to stop people and publishers in Australia from sharing news on its main social network and Instagram if the legislation became law. Google has also threatened to shut down its search engine in Australia.
Google Contrast
On Wednesday, Facebook tried to draw a contrast with Google, arguing that publishers do not voluntarily provide articles that appear in Google search results, while willingly posting news on Facebook, which helps them reach a larger audience.
The Australian proposal punishes Facebook “for content that was not requested or requested,” William Easton, managing director of Facebook in Australia and New Zealand, said in a blog post on Wednesday.
“The proposed law misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content.” ‘It presented us with a stark choice: the attempt to comply with a law that ignores the reality of this relationship, or to allow news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart we choose the latter. ‘
Publishers are already reaping tangible benefits from links on Facebook, Easton said. Last year, Facebook generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers, valued at an estimated A $ 407 million ($ 315 million), without providing a basis for the calculation.
What’s news?
Facebook said they will rely on machine learning software to determine which links are considered news. The software is looking for ‘news-specific signals such as timeliness, presence of alignments and attributed resources’ in an attempt to predict whether something should be classified as news, according to a company’s help page.
It is possible that non-news reports, such as opinion pieces, will also be restricted if they come from predominantly news-oriented organizations, a spokesperson confirmed.
Only 4% of the messages people see in Facebook’s News Feed are news, the company said. Facebook cut back on user feed articles in 2018 as a way to increase the number of posts people see from friends and family.
(Updates detailing Mark Zuckerberg’s discussion in the fourth paragraph.)
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