Australian Publishers Pay the Ultimate Prize of 'News Media Code' via Facebook Ban

Facebook has damaged ‘its Reputation,” Australia Reacts after the company banned publishers from sharing their content on the social media platform. The decision by the global social media giant to prohibit Australian publishers will drastically reduce their income.

Giant social media Facebook blocked Australian from posting or viewing news content on its site on Thursday. The decision was prompted as a counter-reaction to the federal government’s news media code. Facebook’s Australian and New Zeal managing director Will Easton said that the sanction would bar links to Australian publishers from being shared on their platform.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg had called for a half an hour meeting with Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. Frydenberg stated that the tech giant had “damaged its reputation.”

Australian government has termed Facebook ban as “heavy handed.” Frydenberg told reporters on Thursday that: “Facebook was wrong. Facebook’s actions were unnecessary, they were heavy-handed, and they will damage its reputation in Australia.”

Easton stated that publishers benefited a lot from sharing their content on Facebook than Facebook does. “We hope that in the future Australian government will recognize the value we already provide and work with us to strengthen, rather than limit, our partnership with publishers,” he said.

In a blog post, Facebook representative revealed that Facebook “generated around 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated AU$407 million.”

The landmark Australian law had proposed that Google and Facebook to pay for news content. Easton said that they were prepared to engage with local Australian publishers through the yet to be launched Facebook News. However, he stated that they were only prepared for the launch “with the right rules in place.”