Facebook to Prohibit Sharing of News Content in Australia -- Update
February 17 2021 - 4:06PM
Dow Jones News
By Jeff Horwitz
Facebook Inc. said it would restrict publishers and users in
Australia from viewing or sharing news articles, ramping up a
standoff with the government there over a proposal that would force
tech companies to pay newspapers for content.
The Australian proposal, which is proceeding through the
legislature, could prompt other countries to follow suit in a
global transformation of the relationship between tech companies
and traditional media.
Facebook's move will result in a blackout for content from
Australian publishers on Facebook world-wide as well as the
unavailability of stories from both domestic and international news
content within Australia. Facebook said that news accounts for
"less than 4% of the content people see in their News Feed" but
didn't provide detail on how it had calculated that number.
Facebook, which has been threatening for months that the
proposal could force its hand, said the Australian government
continues to misunderstand the relationship between publishers and
the company's social-media platforms.
"It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a
law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop
allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy
heart, we are choosing the latter," the company said in a statement
Wednesday from William Easton, Facebook's managing director, for
Australia and New Zealand.
Facebook will seek to block or remove links to news posted to
its platform and establish a system to review news content that
slips through its filters. The company said that it believed that
restricting news on Australian Facebook would cost publishers more
than $300 million U.S. dollars.
Facebook and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have been in lengthy
negotiations with the Australian government. The Australian
proposal would effectively require publishers and tech companies to
negotiate, and submit to binding arbitration if they can't reach a
deal.
Earlier on Wednesday, News Corp announced that it has agreed to
a multiyear partnership with Google to provide journalism from its
news sites around the world in return for significant payments from
the search giant.
News Corp owns Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones &
Co.
Google had previously joined Facebook in saying the proposal set
an unmanageable precedent, and said it would possibly shut down its
search engine in Australia as a result.
Facebook has been willing to pay for news content in other
contexts. In 2019, Facebook announced it would pay news
organizations including the Journal -- in some cases millions of
dollars a year -- to license their headlines and story summaries
for a news service.
Australia's effort follows years of countries trying to force
tech companies to pay publishers, with limited success. The
proposal got a surprise boost this week when Microsoft Corp. said i
it would support the plan, and suggested the U.S. should copy
it.
"The United States should not object to a creative Australian
proposal that strengthens democracy by requiring tech companies to
support a free press," Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a
blog post published Thursday. "It should copy it instead."
In its statement, Facebook drew a contrast to the way it handles
content as compared with Google. The search giant takes content
from newspapers and other publishers whereas they "willingly choose
to post news on Facebook," Mr. Easton said. Posting on Facebook
allows those publishers to sell more subscriptions, grow their
audiences and increase advertising revenue, he said.
Write to Jeff Horwitz at Jeff.Horwitz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 17, 2021 15:51 ET (20:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024