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                   Why Facebook Blocked Australian News Sites

   Josh Centers

   Australian news publishers complained that Facebook and Google were
   taking advantage of them by linking to their content. So the Australian
   [1]government proposed a 'link tax' in which Facebook and Google would
   have to pay Australian publishers for every link to them on those
   respective services. Facebook warned in September 2020 that if the
   Australian government moved forward with the link tax, it would stop
   allowing links to Australian publishers. The company has now [2]done
   exactly that. So you would expect publishers to be happy that Facebook
   is no longer taking advantage of them by linking to their content.

   Except they're not happy. And even American politicians are lashing out
   at Facebook, accusing it of threatening Australia and democracy itself.
   Mike Masnick of TechDirt does his best to [3]explain this confusing
   situation and the equally confusing reaction to it, including why
   people are also mad at Google for cutting a linking deal with News Corp
   (after threatening to pull out of Australia entirely), which was the
   point of the 'tax' in the first place.

   Many people are angry at Facebook for shutting off not just links to
   Australian news sites but also links to a number of others as well,
   including government websites and, temporarily, [4]its own page. That
   could be due to a non-discrimination rule that requires Facebook and
   Google to treat all sites the same whether they're forced to pay them
   or not, or Facebook may have just hit the nuclear button.

   Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, opposes the link
   tax in the strongest terms, calling it a fundamental threat to the Web.

   [5]Read original article

References

   1. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/01/google-threatens-to-shut-down-australian-search-over-link-tax-proposal/
   2. https://about.fb.com/news/2021/02/changes-to-sharing-and-viewing-news-on-facebook-in-australia/
   3. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210217/22383446265/bizarre-reaction-to-facebooks-decision-to-get-out-news-business-australia.shtml?s=09
   4. https://gizmodo.com/facebook-accidentally-blocks-own-page-in-australia-foll-1846294300
   5. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210217/22383446265/bizarre-reaction-to-facebooks-decision-to-get-out-news-business-australia.shtml

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