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(Bloomberg) – Facebook Inc. has started restricting news sharing on its service in Australia, defying a controversial bill that would require tech companies to pay publishers when their articles are posted by users.
The ban is the strongest action to date in response to proposed legislation, which would force Facebook and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to pay publishers for the value their articles generate on digital platforms. The media have demanded such payments, arguing that they should be compensated fairly for their journalism, as Google and Facebook capture much of the advertising market.
Facebook’s move prevents Australians from sharing news and prevents users around the world from sharing articles from Australian publishers. The action threatens to cut off one of the most common ways to access news and information online.
It’s possible that Australia’s proposed law will set a precedent with other countries around the world that have seen Facebook and Google impact their respective news industries. Although they oppose the measure in Australia, Google and Facebook have entered into separate voluntary agreements to pay publishers. Earlier Wednesday, News Corp. by Rupert Murdoch, a supporter of the Australian proposal, said he had struck a deal with Google to have the search giant pay for journalism from the Wall Street Journal and its other newspapers.
Josh Frydenberg, treasurer of Australia, tweeted that he had had a “constructive discussion” with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday morning Australian time. “He raised a few remaining questions regarding the government’s news media bargaining code and we agreed to continue our conversation to try and find a way forward,” he wrote. A Facebook spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last summer, Facebook threatened to block Australian people and publishers from sharing information on its main social network and Instagram if the legislation becomes law. Google has also threatened to shut down its search engine in Australia.
Google Contrast
Facebook attempted to contrast with Google on Wednesday, saying publishers don’t voluntarily provide articles that appear in Google search results, while they voluntarily post news on Facebook, which helps them reach a wider audience.
The Australian proposal penalizes Facebook “for content it has not taken or requested,” William Easton, chief executive of Facebook in Australia and New Zealand, said Wednesday in a blog post.
“The bill fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and the publishers who use it to share topical content,” he said. “It left us with a difficult choice: to try to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or to stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we choose the latter.
Publishers are already reaping tangible benefits from Facebook linking, Easton said. Last year, Facebook generated around 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers, worth an estimated A $ 407 million ($ 315 million), he said, without providing a basis Calculation.
What is the news?
Facebook said it would rely on machine learning software to determine which links are considered news. The software looks for “news specific signals like news, presence of bylines, and attributed sources” with the goal of predicting whether something should be classified as news, according to a company’s help page.
Non-news articles, like opinion pieces, may also be limited if they come from primarily news-oriented organizations, a spokesperson confirmed.
Only 4% of the posts people see in Facebook’s news feed are news, the company said. Facebook previously reduced posts in user feeds in early 2018 to increase the number of posts people see from friends and family.
(Updates with details of Mark Zuckerberg’s discussion in the fourth paragraph.)
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