Facebook threatens to block Australians from sharing news stories

I can't wrap my head around this. Posting a link to a news service somehow deprives that news service of revenue. I would think it would be the opposite. Many of such links are to paywalls anyhow, so, how are such news sites being deprived of money anyhow. Strange to have to defend Facebook or Google in this regard. Any explanations?

So the move would force Facebook to actually pay for stuff it leaches off for free now, AND it would bring transparency to their algorithms?

The fact that Facebook is so against this makes me think its a good idea.

It appears to stem from Facebook hosting news content (as in displaying it on Facebook) rather than simply being a link people click. Not sure what to think about this one, they do appear to possibly be in breach of copyright laws

Yet just how much news content does FB actually host, that is NOT a link?

I see links to news services, click the link, and if I want to read more that the monthly allotted "free" content I have to pay to subscribe.

Same with many Google news links as well.

I dont see how the "local" outlets are loosing money, when in fact they could be getting more advertising, through having them post it on Google or FB

Any explanations?

Indeed it is not something one could easily understand and agree with Australia.

Truth be told neither Google nor Facebook has any original content. It is the users talented or not giving away their own content or links to content from struggling local news organizations. Most of the money tho goes to Google and Facebook.

Australia has a point to ask for protection. Google and Facebook have a point because it is not their fault.

I alone see 2 rather simple solutions. The local news organizations could password protect their content or just instead of using their own websites use google and facebook platforms to publish content.

Australian lawmakers, however, opt for this racketeering looking thing .. but why ? Are they simply saying we don't want you here.

In a way it makes a little bit of sense G and F are taking all the money also as proven with Trump and Brexit they can be used as tools to meddle with elections and further policies.

Whoa, that's a mighty claim! Care to provide a little evidence for it?

Manus Island. Mass surveillance, including yearly increases in demands for private user net logs from net providers and their compliance by law. The raid of journalist Annika Smethurst's home. A ban on all semi-auto firearms and other overly strict gun laws all because of a couple isolated incidents. Arrests and jail over cartoon porn. Declaring cartoon persons as legal persons so as to effect those arrests and jail sentences. Hard Covid 19 lockdowns. And now a government plan to crack down on news sharing on social media websites.

You thought I was speaking out of turn?

Facebook just made an announcement today. Basically said, "We reserve the right to block you from your content if we think it might make us look bad in court."

Looks like they're trying to cover their bases. Feels like tyranny.

Vanessa CarlisleToday  04:23 pm JST

The Aussie government has a serious fascist bent, maybe even more than the U.S. government.

Whoa, that's a mighty claim! Care to provide a little evidence for it?

If google will be forced to pay when these news sites appear in searches then Google probably will have no choice but to delist the sites from the index.

Worse is if google can charge them for their continued use of google services

Instead, we are left with a choice of 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

According to the article below, the above assertion of Easton's is wrong:

https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/01/facebook_australian_news/

Get rid of FB & all other social media - problem solved !

The world will be a much better placy

Get rid of FB & all other social media - problem solved !

How naive can anyone be?

King Zuckerberg laying down the law. Has he bought hawaii yet?

Whoa, that's a mighty claim! Care to provide a little evidence for it?

I lived in Cairns for a while and can vouch for the thuggish tendencies of Australian cops. Australia, unlike the US, does not have municipal police forces that are members of the local communities and answerable to their city councils. Nor do Australian counties or shires have their own sheriffs. All police are either state police or Australian Federal police. You get people policing some areas that did not grow up there, have no attachment to the community and very often are hostile to the local populace. I remember my very first night in Cairns, having just completed a non-stop flight from the US, a tax ride from the airport, check in and all that and was expected to be up at zero dark thirty the next morning to catch another flight to a job site in Papua New Guinea. A cop or something woke me up with a flashlight in my face and proceeded to berate me for not locking the door of the hotel room. I lived in the vicinity of Cairns for the next year when I wasn't on duty in PNG but learned fast enough to steer clear of Australian cops.

It would be fun to see the likes of Google take objection to some nation's attempts to extort them and simply pull the plug one day without warning. No search engine, no other Google platforms, all data and e-mails related to that nation erased. Poof.

@ John I wish I could show you all the posts and accounts that have been deleted by Facebook. Right or left hardly matters. Facebook's politics are primarily about profits and their goal is to simply keep the posts and clicks coming. Whether you get banned or deleted or not depends on the popularity of your postings ie how much you offend other users or not. And what that means is that the unpopular truth will not be found on Facebook.

Facebook and Instagram don't take any responsibility for their users' actions.

Why should they? Nothing on Facebook can directly harm anyone. Its all just information. Its all pixels. In fact, laws demanding they take responsibility are literally the core of the problem. It means they get to abuse the power of deletion as they see fit, all in the name of laws and responsibility.

In fact, they should not be allowed to delete anything at all. The only way the truth and goodness are going to win out is in an open forum. As soon as you introduce shadows the shadows proliferate and all you get is a constant see-saw between good and evil. That's what the faceless moderation of Facebook has accomplished.

This is most bizarre.

Really interested in how things will turn out.

NWO is based in Silicon Valley

Great!! Bring it on. No more BS stories passed around to ill-informed suburbanites? YES!!! Facebook...how can I put this?....take a flying leap!

Yeah, I'm really curious as to what would happen next if Australia proceeded with this.

I want to find out what FB and Google can do and would do.

I want to find out what FB and Google can do and would do

If it gets hot enough clouds evaporate you know ........................

Facebook and Instagram don't take any responsibility for their users' actions. Because of this they have become a haven for the far right groups, fake story makers and animal cruelty supporters across the world. Just the other day I watched a horrible video that was posted on Instagram 2 months ago. In this video two women killed two little kittens by sitting on them...And I still remember the Christ Church shootings during which the terrorist stayed live on Facebook for more than half an hour. Despite numerous complaints Facebook did not do anything about the broadcast. If I were a victim's relative, I would have sued Facebook. I am surprised NZ gov did nothing about this company at the time. I suppose governments had to allow such US tech giants to dictate their T&Cs over their own national laws amidts fears of US sanctions. In that regard, I note that the US has unfairly prevented Tik Tok and Huawei from operating freely across the world and continues to bully rivalling non-US Asian tech giants.

I deleted my facebook and instagram account last month. I am NOT happy with their T&Cs and I refuse to share my personal info with them. They are tracking my every movement on the internet no matter what...I have recently switched to duck duck browser to stop Google. Since I have deleted my social accounts, I am stress free and not bothered / bullied by anyone.

There is a political dimension/methodology at play.

The Australian Government Treasurer Josh Frydenberg instigated the process to forward proposals to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) when negotiations with Facebook and Alphabet failed to agree to a voluntary code.

Pick through the political hide and seek, oohing and aahing.

Frydenberg insists on a mandatory code focusing on the sharing of data, plus revenue generated from news, bolting on a punitive and binding dispute resolution mechanism.

However the key/goal/future target is defining a method of taxing revenue from Australia online advertising market currently worth around A$8/10 billion.

Google, Facebook make billions in Australian sales but pay less than $40m in tax…..

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-01/google-facebook-make-billions-in-australian-sales-pay-little-tax/11060474

I think Facebook and Google have the more persuasive case here.

The Aussie government has a serious fascist bent, maybe even more than the U.S. government.