After Australia’s government this week announced its intent to issue legislative changes known as the “News Media Bargaining Code” by the end of this month, Facebook in retaliation has said it will begin restricting news sharing on its platform in Australia.
It comes a day after the current session of parliament vowed to implement the law by the session’s close, which ends on Feb. 25. The code seeks to force major US-based internet companies to fairly pay local Australian publishers for use of their content. Last month Google threatened to remove its search engine from Australia altogether over the legislation, with Facebook backing Google’s pressure campaign.
Facebook unleashes the nuclear option in Australia: The company just announced it will block Australian news publishers and Australian users of Facebook from posting, viewing or sharing any news content whatsoever
— Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) February 17, 2021
NBC describes the new code as aiming “to remove the digital giants’ dominant bargaining positions by creating an arbitration panel with the power to make legally binding decisions on price.”
“The panel would usually accept either the platform’s or the publisher’s best offer, and only rarely set a price in between,” the report describes.- READ MORE
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