To annoy media companies, Facebook has hacked the data of its Australian users

OPINION: Facebook has plunged Australia into a news black hole, holding its own users hostage.

The social giant’s extraordinary announcement that it is banning news content inside and outside Australia is an overreaction to the Morrison government’s media bargaining code.

Australians will not see news on Facebook. The world will not see news from Australia on Facebook.

To annoy media companies, Facebook has hacked its users’ data.

READ MORE:
* Facebook to restrict Australians from sharing or viewing news content
* Google agrees to pay Nine Australia $ 32 million per year for news content.
* ‘There is no other law like this in Australia’: Facebook attacks the digital media code

Australia’s first global code is designed to make big tech compensate news companies for the content they create, arguing that the search and social media giants profit from its creation.

Facebook and Google have been vehemently opposed, arguing that they do not understand their relationship with the media and how the Internet works, and do not recognize the benefits that Big Tech offers news organizations.

But this Facebook tantrum was not the inevitable result of Australian government policy.

With the code on the verge of becoming law, Google has in recent days closed constructive deals with Nine Entertainment, News Corp and Seven West Media, paying what amounts to a small percentage of their Australian revenues, but is a significant sum for the news business.

Instead, Facebook has opted for destruction.

This is not an attack directed against the Scott Morrison administration or the Australian news industry. Facebook chose the nuclear option, and the consequences are global.

Before dismissing that as hyperbole from an interested journalist, consider this. Facebook hasn’t just stopped Australian news publishers from posting or sharing. It has:

• It banned Australian Facebook users from sharing local media news.

• Australians were denied the ability to view news published by media companies. Anywhere in the world

• Australia is hidden from the world, so users around the world “cannot view or share Australian news content on Facebook.”

Australia’s deadly wildfire season will illustrate the far-reaching consequences. Not only the media like ABC or the Sydney morning herald You will not be able to distribute reports of public interest about wildfires as they spread – Australians will not be able to view or share information about wildfires from any reputable news outlet on Facebook. And for the nearly 3 billion Facebook users worldwide, wildfires simply won’t exist.

(Emergency services and government agencies are already feeling the pain.)

TO ThingsWe have long been concerned about Facebook’s behavior. In 2019, we stopped advertising on Facebook, horrified by what the terrorist attacks on the Christchurch mosque showed about the amplification of hateful extremism.

Last July, we stopped our post on Facebook and Instagram. That was not an easy decision and we are still treating it as an ongoing experiment.

We are struggling with contrary principles. On the one hand, we do not want to participate in a toxic environment built on a business model that benefits from amplification of hate speech, misinformation, and fake news. On the other hand, our trusted journalism is an antidote to misinformation. There is a persuasive argument that we should be on Facebook to make sure journalism reaches all who should see it, especially during a pandemic when the availability of accurate information is paramount.

Fundamentally, when we decide to experiment by being silent on Facebook, we do not remove any rights to Things readers. Anyone who wants to can share Stuff’s journalism on Facebook.

The bitter irony of Facebook’s move is that it has spent years defending its role in spreading misinformation and other social cancers, claiming to value free speech and citing the technical challenges of content moderation. Yet in one fell swoop, he has removed the news from an entire country from his platform.

Facebook’s heavy-handed tactics go beyond retaliation against Australian lawmakers, who are not backing down. This is a message to governments around the world who are considering following Australia’s regulatory steps.

This undemocratic exercise of monopoly power is a clear statement of Facebook’s priorities. Obviously, blacklisting news is not in the best interest of Facebook users. But Facebook won’t hesitate to hold its users hostage when profits are at stake.