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The Sydney Morning Herald Facebook account pages of Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald were unable to post or share news on social media platforms – Photo: SMH
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on February 20 that Facebook had agreed to sit at the negotiating table with Australia to find a way out, after the world’s most popular social network suddenly blocked all news and blocked all accounts. . Many government agencies and emergencies services babysitters.
Don’t “joke” with Australia
During a press conference on February 20 in Sydney, Morrison said Facebook was asking the Australian government to negotiate further to find a solution to the problem between the two parties, related to the responsibility to pay royalties for content. Newspapers appear on social media. platforms.
So far, Facebook has publicly expressed its intention not to change its opposition to the bill pending approval by the Australian Senate next week.
Earlier on February 19, Australian Finance Minister Josh Frydenberg said that he spoke with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and expected more talks over the weekend. It is not clear if these negotiations have taken place yet.
On the same day, February 19, the Australian Prime Minister announced that he would be determined to promote the passage of a bill to force Facebook and Google to pay royalties to the press, despite extreme reaction from Facebook.
Public opinion has grounds to believe in the harsh statement of the Australian Prime Minister. Richard Glover, author of a comment published in the Washington Post on February 20, recalled some of Canberra’s notable achievements in previous confrontations with business forces, including “the uncle.” Amazon.
It was a legal battle between international tobacco giants and the law to print plain cigarettes to reduce Australia’s smoking in 2012. The final victory of the Australian government in high court over pharmaceutical companies The leaves were the basis for 20 other countries later they found out about this initiative.
Similarly, in 2018, e-commerce giant Amazon threatened to deny Australian consumers access to Amazon’s international websites in response to the Australian government asking Amazon to impose a Goods and Services Tax (GST ) of 10% with foreign products sold to Australia. But just a few months later, Amazon had to withdraw the threat and comply with Canberra’s request.
On the facts mentioned above, there is a remarkable fact: Australian lawmakers, whether in the ruling party or the opposition party, have agreed on the point. This is a favorable factor for the Australian Government to act decisively and to the end in the implementation of policies.
Returning to the Facebook case, during the February 15 meeting, the Australian Labor Party opposition party also supported Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s ruling Liberal Party on the bill to arrest Facebook, and Google pays royalties to the press. . This gives the bill a great chance to pass. in the Australian Federal Senate next week.
Unlike Facebook, recently Google has taken clear steps to show the spirit of engagement with the Australian government. Having threatened to shut down search engines in Australia in response to the bill, but this week Google has started to strike a premium deal with two of Australia’s largest media outlets, Seven West Media and Nine Entertainment. Co.
This company befriended Australia temporarily. What satisfies me is that Facebook is back on the table.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke at a press conference on February 20.
Australia is not alone
In recent times, there have been many concerns that raise the question: whether users in the world are creating the conditions for American tech giants to have too great power to become loyal in all social operations. What if “one day suddenly” they used that power to gain the right to “set the rules of the game” against a government?
And now, what just happened in Australia shows that this concern has been realized. Angry with the Australian government bill, Facebook immediately “deleted” news content on many pages of the country’s press accounts. Close to 17 million kangaroo users on Facebook woke up on the morning of February 18, surprised to find that they were unable to post / share any news content, both national and international.
The Prime Minister of Australia has received sympathy from some country leaders and is also calling for more world leaders to support Canberra’s position on this issue.
Morrison has spoken with his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is expected to continue talks with more leaders in the coming days. Australian Finance Minister Josh Frydenberg also spoke with Deputy Prime Minister, Canadian Finance Minister Ms Chrystia Freeland, about the incident.
“It is not about imitating a system, but about having an ecosystem of fairness and justice for the media industry, which is investing too much in its content,” said the Washington newspaper. The Post cited views of Mr Alex Agius Saliba from Malta, a member of the European Parliament, who shared views with the Australian government in an interview.
Elizabeth Renieris, director of the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab, said that even with some unsatisfactory issues in the Australian bill, Facebook’s response was still unacceptable. Renieris said showing the power of Facebook “will really wake up regulators World “.
Claiming that Facebook is incompatible with democracy, Democratic Representative David Cicilline, in charge of a state in the US House of Representatives, urged the US antitrust agency to investigate Facebook. On February 18, Democrats announced that they would hold new hearings to regulate online platforms and update America’s antitrust laws.
The threat to force a country to abide by Facebook’s terms is Facebook’s greatest recognition of its monopoly power.
US Congressman David Cicilline wrote on Twitter
Fine up to 10% of billing
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian bill requires companies such as Google and Facebook to enter into a trade agreement with the country’s media companies if they do not want to be fined up to 10% of revenue.
The Washington Post reported that the Australian bill also contains provisions that allow regulators to force Facebook and Google to pay for newspapers every time someone clicks on a news link that appears on the platform pages of these two companies. .
The bill passed the Australian House of Representatives on the night of February 17 and is expected to receive a “go-ahead” in the Senate next week. If approved by the Senate, the bill will officially become law in late February 2021.
