Facebook threatens to ban Australians sharing news stories if media royalty law passes

File photo shows a Facebook logo displayed at a business gathering in Paris.
AP
Kit Heren1 September 2020

Australians could soon be blocked from sharing news stories on Facebook, the social media giant has threatened.

The company warned of a possible ban – which would include Instagram, its other major social network – if Australia goes ahead with a new law that would see Facebook and other Internet publishers pay news organisations for using their content.

Facebook said the sums it would be forced to pay under the new law would be arbitrary and theoretically unlimited.

Facebook's managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Will Easton, said that the company would have to choose between "either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits”.

Peter Da Silva/EPA

"No business can operate in this way," he added in a blog post.

Campbell Brown, Facebook’s vice president of global news partnerships and a former news anchor at CNN and NBC, said the company's threat “has nothing to do with our ongoing global commitment to journalism”.

Google, which would also be affected by the proposed new law, sent out an open letter implying that the rule would threaten individual privacy and reduce the quality of search and YouTube – but did not threaten a cut-off.

John Stanton, co-founder of the Save Journalism Project, said: “Mark Zuckerberg is happy to let Facebook be a tool to spread misinformation and fake news, but is apparently fine with Facebook dropping real news altogether.

Facebook has threatened to block Australian users from sharing news if the law goes ahead (file image)
Niall Carson/PA

“Regulators need to reign in the tech giants’ total domination of the online marketplace before it’s too late.”

As well as making publishers like Facebook and Google bargain with media companies for the right to publish their stories, the law would give Australian users access to more information about how their data is being used.

And Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook's threats would have no impact on the new law.

"Australia makes laws that advance our national interest," he said in a statement. "We don't respond to coercion or heavy handed threats wherever they come from.

"These reforms will help create a more sustainable media landscape and see payment for original content."

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