Facebook decided to block sharing news in Australia

Users in Australia could not read or share news on the platform, Facebook announced. The company announced that this is a reaction to the new Media Bargain law.

Facebook bets on the cost for users

According to a blog post, it “will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content.” The author is William Easton, Managing Director of the company for Australia & New Zealand.

He made it clear that this is the response to the new Media Bargain law, which would force internet platforms to pay news publishers directly for access to share their content.

Easton emphasized that such a move will cost both Australian users and the ones around the world. In order to support its statements, he mentioned that only 4% of the content in the Australian user’s feed was news. Still, he did not mention any other metrics related to news consumption.

On the other hand, he said that “publishers willingly choose to post news on Facebook.” Thus, he explained, they grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue. Here is his entire statement

The effect of the decision

The decision will not affect only Aussies, but users around the world. With the new rules they could not share links to Australian news publications, on the social media platform.

Still, Google’s approach seems to be completely different. After it had threatened it would leave the country, the giant reached a deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

The three-year deal is based on Google News Showcase ad-revenue sharing agreement. And it happened despite Google’s tough position in the beginning. Robert Thomson, News Corp. CEO, praised Google for a “thoughtful commitment to journalism.”

Thomson also thanked the Australian competition regulator and the government for their position.

So, as Facebook seems to play tough with its new decision, while Google completely changed its point of view.