Facebook is Threatening to Block Australians From Sharing News: Everything You Need to Know

Instagram will block news too if the change goes ahead.

Facebook has announced that they will block Australians from sharing local and international news on its platforms if the ACCC’s proposed news media code becomes law.

As of October 1 2020, Facebook will change its terms and conditions to include: "We also can remove or restrict access to your content, services or information if we determine that doing so is reasonably necessary to avoid or mitigate adverse legal or regulatory impacts to Facebook."

With a third of Australians currently getting their news from Facebook, this is huge.

You may or may not have received a notification about this, but either way, you might be scratching your head about why this is happening and how it will work.

So why is this happening?

In July, the Federal Government released a draft code of conduct for Australian media businesses that would push major internet platforms Google and Facebook to pay to host Australian news media on their platforms.

The code was established by the ACCC to address the power imbalances between news outlets and digital tech giants.

In the proposed code, digital platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube will have to negotiate pay agreements with news outlets.

Negotiations and mediation will take place for up to three months and if no agreement can be reached, news businesses may choose to proceed to a binding final offer settlement.

Managing Director of Facebook Australia and New Zealand, Will Easton has since said, "Assuming this draft code becomes law, we will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram."

"This is not our first choice – it is our last. But it is the only way to protect against an outcome that defies logic and will hurt, not help, the long-term vibrancy of Australia’s news and media sector," he added.

What does this mean?

Essentially, if the new code becomes law and news media in Australia and Facebook don’t reach an understanding, users will no longer be able to see any news media content on their Facebook feed.

If you try to post, share or link news media content on your feed, Facebook will have the right to take it down.

While news content could be scrapped, Facebook did confirm that the sharing of personal content between friends and family or users outside of Australia would not be affected.

So what's happening now?

Last month, Google released an open letter in response to the code stating that it would negatively impact the individuality of search results and give news media businesses an unfair advantage over everyone else who has a website, YouTube channel or small business.

Google also stated that Australian’s search data may be at risk as Google does not know how data may be used or protected by news media businesses.

The ACCC later challenged some of the claims in Google’s open letter, stating that the letter contained misinformation about charging Australians for the use of ordinarily free services.

The proposed code has obviously been supported by all major news media businesses in Australia including Nine Entertainment, News Corp and The Guardian.

At this stage, Facebook’s terms are still the same, but watch this space come October 1.