“Remove Facebook”: The campaign which is a global trend to reject the decision of the social network to block the publication of news in Australia

Facebook faces a massive campaign against him for banning users in Australia from sharing and reading news on social media.

“Delete Facebook”, “Boycott Zuckerberg” Yes “Facebook, we need to talk” They started trending this Thursday on Twitter as the fury around the measure spread to several countries around the world.

David Cicillin, a member of the United States House of Representatives, said that “Facebook is not compatible with democracy” as people have also been urged to ditch Instagram and WhatsApp because Mark Zuckerberg’s company owns them.

Former CEO of Facebook Stephen Scheeler backed the boycott of the platform and urged Australians to remove the app in protest.

“I’m a proud ex-Facebook, but over the years I’ve gotten more and more exasperated. For Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, it’s too much about money and power, not good, ”said.

Facebook critics claim that the decision will lead to the proliferation of conspiracy theories and disinformation.

The ban has also led to the blocking of a large number of non-news sites, including health agencies that provide information on COVID-19 disease, emergency services that alert on fires, shelters for victims of domestic violence, charities and food banks.

Facebook’s fight with Australia comes amid a global pressure to force tech giants to pay for content, while considering applying similar laws in the UK, EU and US.

The company’s shares fell 1% in the first operations on the New York Stock Exchange in a sign of nervousness due to the sudden escalation of tensions.

Facebook’s ban is in response to a first global law that requires tech giants to pay media companies for the content they use.

As of Thursday, Australians who visited reliable Facebook accounts began to see a message indicating that no message was available. Even international news was also hidden.

The CEO of Facebook Australia and New Zealand, William easton, stated that “The bill fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and the publishers who use it to share topical content.”.

He assured that the Australian government had left them before a “Difficult” choice between “complying with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship or stopping allowing news content on our services in Australia” and that “with a heavy heart”, they were inclined to the second option.

Facebook is insisting that Australian publishers benefit from sharing their stories on the platform.

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