There was a rift between Facebook and news organizations in Australia. After this, Facebook blocked the news channel, agency, and newspapers’ Facebook page. The government intervened after this. Facebook has been asked to remove the ban. Facebook also agrees. The social media company has said it will lift the ban on Australian news pages in the coming days. The news agency AFP referred it to the government.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday requested Facebook to remove the ban on Australian users and begin negotiations with news publishing businesses. In addition, he warned that other countries may also follow their government’s actions to collect fees from digital companies instead of sharing news.
#BREAKING Facebook to restore Australian news pages: Government pic.twitter.com/BoCZXUOWSi
– AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 23, 2021
“I have spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday about the Facebook controversy,” Morrison said. He is speaking to leaders in Britain, Canada and France about this proposed legislation in Australia.
“Many countries are interested in what Australia is doing,” he said. So I invite Facebook to speak constructively like Google, because they know that many Western countries can follow what Australia does here.
Morrison said Facebook’s move to stop Australian people from accessing news and sharing it was a threat.
In fact, on Thursday, Facebook banned news sharing in Australia, showing strong sentiment. The move by Social Media has sparked debate among government, media and powerful technology companies. The company has taken this step in retaliation to the proposed law on paying media outlets (from a social media company) instead of sharing news on Facebook in Australia.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed a bill that would give Facebook and Google a fair solution to news found on social media platforms. Only after it is passed in the Senate does it take the form of legislation.
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