Australia hits out at Facebook for news blackout, calls it 'wrong, heavy handed'

Australia has hit out on Facebook after the social network marked an unprecedented dramatic escalation with Australians waking up to empty news feeds on February 18. As the feud between the Australian government and Facebook grew more strenuous over paying for content, social network’s Thursday move was swiftly criticised by news producers, politicians and even human rights advocates. In a protest against the government’s new legislation, it also became evident that the social media giant scrubbed official health pages, emergency safety warnings and even welfare networks along with the news.

Lambasting the move, Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told a televised news conference, “Facebook was wrong, Facebook's actions were unnecessary, they were heavy-handed, and they will damage its reputation here in Australia.” 

Frydenberg also said that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had given no prior warning before shutting down the news in the country even though the par spoke over the weekend about looming laws that would pressure the social media giant as well as Google to pay the local news publishers for the content they use on their respective platforms. Australian Treasurer said that the two had a subsequent conversation on Thursday morning which was “constructive” and informed that both individuals had discussed "differing interpretations" about how the new Media Bargaining Code would work.

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Facebook’s move marks split from Google

Thursday’s drastic move directed by Facebook even marks a split from Alphabet Inc-owned Google as both company’s had joint forces together to campaign against the Australian laws. Both Google and Facebook had threatened to cancel its services in Australia. However, search engine giant has instead sealed preemptive deals with several news outlets in the recent days over the looming laws. 

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp was the latest to announce its deal with Google that included that the news outlet would receive “significant payments” from the search engine giant in exchange for providing content for News Showcase account. Facebook had previously said in a statement that the law, which is expected to pass in the Australian parliament within a few days, “fundamentally misunderstands” the relationship between the company and publishers.

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