Facebook Deliberately Caused Havoc in Australia to Influence New Law, Whistleblowers Say

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Facebook Deliberately Caused Havoc in Australia to Influence New Law, Whistleblowers Say

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When Facebook blocked news pages last year to pre-empt Australian legislation that would force it to pay for content, it also took down hospitals, emergency services and charities. The company says that was inadvertent; whistleblowers allege it was a negotiating tactic.

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According to the whistleblowers and documents, the Facebook's goal was to exert maximum negotiating leverage over the Australian Parliament, which was voting on the first law in the world that would require platforms such as Google and Facebook to pay news outlets for content.

Facebook is accused of deliberately creating a flawed process for removing pages, which resulted in the blocking of government, health, and emergency services pages in Australia just as the country was launching its COVID-19 vaccination program.

When Facebook blocked all news content in Australia, they also blocked the pages of Australian hospitals, emergency services, and charities. Facebook later called this "inadvertent" chaos.

Publish date

05

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05

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2022

Year

12

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am

Publisher

The Wall Street Journal

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-deliberately-caused-havoc-in-australia-to-influence-new-law-whistleblowers-say-11651768302

Referenced by

Facebook and Instagram's news blackout in Canada

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When Facebook blocked all news content in Australia, they also blocked the pages of Australian hospitals, emergency services, and charities. Facebook later called this "inadvertent" chaos.

News

Facebook is accused of deliberately creating a flawed process for removing pages, which resulted in the blocking of government, health, and emergency services pages in Australia just as the country was launching its COVID-19 vaccination program.

News