In Australia it is no longer possible to share links from news articles on Facebook.
Also, Facebook users abroad can no longer see posts from Australian news companies.
Facebook decided on Wednesday in response to a bill that would force the company to pay news companies for their content. According to Facebook, the law shows a lack of understanding about “the relationship between our platform and news content publishers.”
Google struck a deal with Australia’s Newscorp this week to avoid problems with the law. But Facebook does not consider itself comparable to the search giant. “Publishers do not voluntarily give their content to Google, with us they choose to publish news articles because they sell more subscriptions.”
Publishers would make more money from Facebook than the other way around, the company writes. “News is only 4 percent of what we show in the feed.”
Australian Media Law
Google and Facebook account for 81 percent of the Australian advertising market. The Australian government wants to break this power, among other things with a panel to assess whether price agreements between the companies and publishers are fair.
Under the new law, social media platforms must pay publishers to show their content. Companies such as Google and Facebook would also report changes to their algorithms to publishers at least 14 days in advance. They must not discriminate against publishers they are at odds with.
Facebook and Google disagree with the content of the law. For example, Facebook has been threatening to block news links in Australia for some time. The company has now taken action by word.