Regarding a dispute over a proposed media law, the US Internet giant Facebook has blocked content sharing among users in Australia, and warning announcements from official agencies have also been blocked.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese Network) A controversial online media law that has not yet been issued has cast a shadow over Australia. The law has not yet been approved by Parliament, but the major Internet giants have responded, albeit in very different ways. Facebook announced that it will immediately block news content sharing in Australia. The Australian director William Easton said that Facebook decided to take this step with a "heavy heart".
From now on, users in Australia will no longer be able to share content from domestic or international news sites. This measure also caused problems on the Facebook pages of Australian government agencies. The three health departments that have released the latest epidemic information on the online platform so far, as well as the natural disaster and weather early warning agencies have also suffered.
"Dangerous Development"
Environment Minister Sussan Ley was forced to announce that due to restrictions, the Meteorological Bureau’s Facebook page no longer functions normally. When the problem appeared, the agency issued a warning about the risk of flash floods in Queensland.
In Western Australia, the Fire Department’s Facebook page is blank --- despite the threat of catastrophic wildfires and bushfires. "Human Rights Watch" stated on Thursday (February 18) that "this is a shocking and dangerous development." The human rights organization pointed out that cutting off access to life-saving information for the entire country in the middle of the night was a "unscrupulous" cold-blooded act.
The cause of this dispute is that the Australian government plans to promote strict supervision of the digital news market. According to the proposed new bill, multinational Internet companies such as Facebook and Google must pay user fees to Australian media companies to publish their news content.
Both Facebook and Google's parent company Alphabet said this rule is difficult to operate. Last month, both companies threatened to shut down their services in Australia if the new law came into effect. However, Google has since opted to relax and signed several pre-contracts with local media to allow them to publish their information on Google News.