Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to give evidence to the House Financial Services Committee on “A Review of Facebook and its Impact on Financial Services and Housing Departments” in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on October 23, 2019.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it will not allow publishers and consumers in Australia to share or view news articles in response to a proposed new media law in the country.
With the new legislation, the Australian government is trying to ask online platforms like Google and Facebook to pay news outlets for displaying and linking to their content.
Facebook said it has decided to ban Australian publishers and users from sharing and viewing news content in response to the new law.
This means that Australian publishers will be restricted from posting news content on their Facebook pages. Australian Facebook users will not see news from international publishers. Australian users will not be able to share or view news stories on Facebook, and Facebook users around the world will not be able to share or view news from Australian publishers.
Facebook’s decision to ban Australian news stories from its service is in stark contrast to Google, which announced Wednesday it has reached a revenue share agreement with News Corp. so that it can continue to display news links from the company on their services.
The company said it would continue to provide accurate information to Australian consumers from the growing list of information hubs. The company will continue to work with the Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press in Australia as part of their information analysis program.