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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Facebook 'unfriends' Australia: news pages go dark in test for global publishing

    SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australians woke to empty Facebook news feeds on Thursday, after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise escalation of a dispute with the government, which could be a test for the future of online publishing worldwide.

    The move was swiftly criticised by news producers, politicians and human rights advocates, particularly as it became clear that official health pages, emergency safety warnings and welfare networks had all been scrubbed from the site along with news.


    “Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote on his own Facebook page, using the vernacular for cutting ties with another person on the site.


    “These actions will only confirm the concerns that an increasing number of countries are expressing about the behaviour of Big Tech companies who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them.”


    A planned Australian law would require Facebook and Google to reach commercial deals with news outlets whose links drive traffic to their platforms, or be subjected to forced arbitration to agree a price.


    Although Australia is a small market, the law is being closely watched around the world by regulators, and could be a test case for bigger global push to force internet giants to share some of their revenue with content providers.


    Publishers say platforms such as Google and Facebook have been hoarding the vast bulk of new revenue as media shift online, even as newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations and websites are forced to shut newsrooms around the world.


    Facebook said it had blocked media content in Australia because the draft law did not provide clear guidance on the definition of news content and said its commitment to combat misinformation had not changed.


    “The actions we’re taking are focused on restricting publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content,” a company spokesman said.

    “As the law does not provide clear guidance on the definition of news content, we have taken a broad definition in order to respect the law as drafted. However, we will reverse any Pages that are inadvertently impacted,” the spokesman said.


    Facebook’s dramatic move represents a split from Alphabet Inc-owned Google, after they joined together for years to campaign against the laws. Both had threatened to cancel services in Australia, but Google has instead sealed preemptive deals with several outlets in recent days.


    Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp was the latest to announce a deal in which it will receive “significant payments” from Google in return for providing content for the search engine’s News Showcase account.


    Google declined to comment on the Facebook decision on Thursday.


    Facebook said in its statement that the law, which is expected to be passed by parliament within days, “fundamentally misunderstands” the relationship between itself and publishers and it faced a stark choice of complying or banning news.


    The tech giant has said news makes up just 4% of what people view on its website. But for Australians, Facebook’s role in news delivery is growing. A 2020 University of Canberra study found 21% of Australians use social media as their primary news source, up 3% from the previous year, while 39% of the population uses Facebook to receive news. The same study said 29% of Australian news video content is consumed on Facebook.



    BLANK PAGES


    The changes made by Facebook wiped clean pages operated by news outlets and removed posts by individual users sharing Australian news, three days before the country begins a nationwide vaccination program to slow the spread of COVID-19.

    Lisa Davies, editor of daily The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, owned by Nine Entertainment Co Ltd, tweeted: “Facebook has exponentially increased the opportunity for misinformation, dangerous radicalism and conspiracy theories to abound on its platform.”


    The Facebook pages of Nine and News Corp, which together dominate the country’s metro newspaper market, and the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corp, which acts as a central information source during natural disasters, were blank.


    Also affected were several major state government accounts, including those providing advice on the coronavirus pandemic and bushfire threats at the height of the summer season, and scores of charity and non-governmental organisation accounts.


    “Demand for food relief has never been higher than during this pandemic, and one of our primary comms tools to help connect people with #foodrelief info & advice is now unavailable,” tweeted Brianna Casey, chief executive of hunger relief charity Foodbank.


    “Hours matter when you have nothing to eat. SORT THIS OUT!”


    A News Corp spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. An advertisement on News Corp’s main Australian news site said, “You don’t need Facebook to get your news”, alongside a link to the company’s smartphone app.


    By mid-afternoon, many government-backed Facebook pages were restored but several charity pages and all media sites remained dark, including those of international outlets like the New York Times, the BBC, News Corp’s Wall Street Journal and Reuters.


    Facebook’s own page was down for several hours in Australia before being restored.


    “This is an alarming and dangerous turn of events,” said Human Rights Watch in a statement. “Cutting off access to vital information to an entire country in the dead of the night is unconscionable.”



    Facebook '''unfriends''' Australia: news pages go dark in test for global publishing | Reuters

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
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    Too much power in too few hands, and the biggest long term losers will be those pwned by the social media/big tech cartel.

  3. #3
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    And then there's this

    Facebook's botched Australia news ban hits health departments, charities and its own pages | Facebook | The Guardian

    But I don't think it's a bad thing.

    Get your news directly. Not from an algorithm that decides what you'd like and gives you that on your facebook page,
    ( Personally I got annoyed with facebook years ago, then when I went to log in again I'd forgotten my login and password etc. )
    Social media is not where to get your news from.
    Get your news from the suppliers.
    “If we stop testing right now we’d have very few cases, if any.” Donald J Trump.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    Get your news directly.
    Exactly, might be a good thing to get Aussies off facebook.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Inside Facebook’s biggest scandals, from Cambridge Analytica to ‘psychological tests’

    The social media giant’s decision to ban local news has stunned Australians. But it’s just the latest in a string of ugly scandals to rock the firm.




    Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, testified over the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFPSource:AFP



    Facebook’s bombshell decision to ban Australian news from the platform sent shockwaves across the world today.
    But it’s just the latest in a string of explosive scandals to hit the social media giant in recent years, which have caused the tech juggernaut’s spectacular fall from grace.
    While Facebook has long enjoyed its status as one of the world’s most popular platforms, countless users are growing increasingly frustrated by the site following fiasco after fiasco.
    As a result, trust in the network has been seriously eroded – and the latest ban threatens to devastate its already-shattered reputation even further.
    Here are just some of the biggest bombshells to hit Facebook in recent years.
    Will you boycott Facebook in light of the ban?

    Definitely - Australia won't be bullied

    No way - the ban doesn't bother me


    Cast your vote















    PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
    In 2014, Facebook faced its first major backlash after it was revealed it had secretly carried out psychological tests on almost 700,000 unwitting users back in 2012.
    The experiment involved manipulating people’s news feeds and studying how the tweaks affected their emotional reaction to posts.
    Facebook was forced to apologise once the news broke, with chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg weighing in after a study claimed the discovery was “the first experimental evidence for massive-scale emotional contagion via social networks”.
    “This was part of ongoing research companies do to test different products, and that was what it was; it was poorly communicated,” she said.
    “And for that communication we apologise. We never meant to upset you.”
    RELATED: ‘Couldn’t be worse’: Facebook fury mounts

    The latest Facebook announcement caught the Australian government off guard. Picture: AFP/Oli ScarffSource:AFP

    CONTENT REMOVAL
    Within two years, Facebook had landed in hot water once again, this time over the censorship of a number of images and videos including a famous Vietnam War picture and clips of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
    Facebook later backtracked after facing intense scrutiny.
    “After hearing from our community, we looked again at how our Community Standards were applied in this case,” Facebook said in a statement about the removal and subsequent reinstatement the “Napalm Girl” photograph, adding it recognised “the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time”.
    2016 ELECTION FURY
    In the same year, following Donald Trump’s surprise election victory, Facebook was also dragged over the coals over the role it potentially played in the results.
    The platform was accused of spreading mass misinformation, and in 2017 it was revealed that hundreds of likely Russian fake Facebook accounts spent around $A125,000 on ads during the election campaign.
    The social network admitted to receiving $US100,000 from “fake news” spreaders who aimed to stir up controversial topics such as same sex marriage, immigration, gun control and race relations.
    And a damning BuzzFeed investigation also found that during the last three months of the campaign, “the top-performing fake election news stories on Facebook generated more engagement than the top stories from major news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, NBC News, and others.”
    RELATED: Government vows to make Facebook pay

    But Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the government was determined to make the tech giant pay. Picture: Josh Edelson/AFPSource:AFP

    CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA
    However, Facebook’s reputation arguably took its biggest battering in 2018 during the Cambridge Analytica debacle, which landed CEO Mark Zuckerberg before Congress.
    In a nutshell, the scandal involved the selling of tens of millions of Facebook users’ personal data to political data firm Cambridge Analytica, without their consent, with the information later used to influence voter behaviour during the 2016 US election (although the breach was not known at the time).
    Facebook was ultimately slapped with a $5 billion fine over the fiasco, which was the largest data scandal in its history.
    GENOCIDE LINKS
    2018 was Facebook’s annus horribilis, with the platform also being used to incite genocide against the Rohingya community in Myanmar.
    The firm launched an independent investigation into the tragedy, and owned up to its mistakes.
    “The report concludes that, prior to this year, we weren’t doing enough to help prevent our platform from being used to foment division and incite offline violence,” Facebook said in statement at the time.
    “We agree that we can and should do more.”
    RELATED: Facebook ban sparks ‘fake news’ fears

    A visibly rattled Mark Zuckerberg pictured during his Cambridge Analytica testimony. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFPSource:AFP

    LEAKED DOCUMENTS
    Then, in 2019, NBC News obtained and released thousands of pages of leaked internal documents which revealed Facebook’s plan to grow ever-powerful, including a strategy of using users’ data as a bargaining tool to wield against rivals and help out allies.
    “Facebook ultimately decided not to sell the data directly but rather to dole it out to app developers who were considered personal ‘friends’ of Zuckerberg or who spent money on Facebook and shared their own valuable data,” the publication revealed.
    REPUTATION IN TATTERS
    Today’s
    Australian news ban is another nail in the coffin of the company, with countless local users vowing to boycott the site in the wake of the bombshell.

    Many have accused Facebook of bullying tactics, with experts including Swinburne University’s Belinda Barnet pointing out the decision to pull news from the site in the midst of the lethal coronavirus crisis was particularly shocking.
    “I think Australians may lose trust in the platform,” she told ABC News on Thursday afternoon.
    “It doesn’t seem that the platform has our best interests at heart, the fact that it could do this at this particular moment in time is evidence of this.”

    https://www.news.com.au/technology/o...c8eb0121a7fb66


    Warning: Be cautious if you are a fragile pink

  6. #6
    . Neverna's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    But I don't think it's a bad thing.

    Get your news directly.
    I agree.

    I also think that FB should demand payment for news and other businesses for using the FB platform. I think it's only a matter of time before they do start to ask for some payment.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Inside Facebook’s biggest scandals, from Cambridge Analytica to ‘psychological tests’

    The social media giant’s decision to ban local news has stunned Australians. But it’s just the latest in a string of ugly scandals to rock the firm.


    Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, testified over the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFPSource:AFP



    Facebook’s bombshell decision to ban Australian news from the platform sent shockwaves across the world today.
    But it’s just the latest in a string of explosive scandals to hit the social media giant in recent years, which have caused the tech juggernaut’s spectacular fall from grace.
    While Facebook has long enjoyed its status as one of the world’s most popular platforms, countless users are growing increasingly frustrated by the site following fiasco after fiasco.
    As a result, trust in the network has been seriously eroded – and the latest ban threatens to devastate its already-shattered reputation even further.
    Here are just some of the biggest bombshells to hit Facebook in recent years.
    Will you boycott Facebook in light of the ban?

    Definitely - Australia won't be bullied

    No way - the ban doesn't bother me




    CONTENT REMOVAL
    Within two years, Facebook had landed in hot water once again, this time over the censorship of a number of images and videos including a famous Vietnam War picture and clips of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
    Facebook later backtracked after facing intense scrutiny.

    Facebook’s worst news scandals: Cambridge Analytica, psychological tests, 2016 US election


    Yeah fuck that asshole.
    Block facebook in Australia as China has done. Someone needs to develop 'Ausbook'.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    Australians woke to empty Facebook news feeds


    Quote Originally Posted by Neverna View Post
    I think it's only a matter of time before they do start to ask for some payment.
    Your data they accrue, is the payment.
    Last edited by OhOh; 18-02-2021 at 09:06 PM.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    I can't believe Aussies are whining about this.

    Are they really so fucking dumb?

  10. #10
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    The theme for 2021 appears to be the people (and governments) against Big Tech.

    Even China's playing the game, minus "the people," though.

    China Rolls Out New Anti-Monopoly Rules Aimed at Reining in Big Tech

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat Fondles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    Get your news from the suppliers.
    I find paywalls annoying.

  12. #12
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fondles View Post
    I find paywalls annoying.
    don't go to their sites - no australian news sites I use have paywalls


  13. #13
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    ^
    No surprise in the US response
    Let's see what the rest of the "free" world have to say.

  14. #14
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    I posted in the other thread that dave newbie bumped

    if you want news , go to news websites

    if it is public safety information , do not rely on a free service to disseminate it

    if it is your method of advertising , boo hoo

    farcebook is a site to share your bowel movements with your family

    this is farcebook telling murdoch to get fcuked

  15. #15
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    Facepalm & Murdoch can both get ferked as far as I'm concerned.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Facepalm & Murdoch can both get ferked as far as I'm concerned.
    ...they'll be devastated to know that...if it ever comes to their attention...

  17. #17
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    Alert them luvvie.

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fondles View Post
    I find paywalls annoying.
    You must be very fucking dumb if you can't find ad-supported news sites.

  19. #19
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    morrison and his band of scumbags are going to shoot their feet off over this then blame it on "teh evil tech giants " and so the murdoch press will proclaim that their lickspittles have been hard done by and the average bogan will eat it all up

  20. #20
    I Amn't In Jail PlanK's Avatar
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    Fakebook: We can't remove all the most clicked-on extremist content that makes us money, it's too difficult.
    Also Fakebook: We can take down all Aus news & government content overnight when it costs us money.

    Fakebook: We can't pay taxes in Australia for advertising sold in that jurisdiction, we sell our advertising worldwide.
    Also Fakebook: We were just pretending. We can actually control what is shown in one jurisdiction and also stop what is produced in one country from being shown worldwide..
    Some people think it don't, but it be.

  21. #21
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldrick View Post
    morrison and his band of scumbags are going to shoot their feet off over this then blame it on "teh evil tech giants " and so the murdoch press will proclaim that their lickspittles have been hard done by and the average bogan will eat it all up
    If you look at their argument, it is that they are losing ad-revenue because people can read their paid content on facetube.

    Now it's been removed, Aussies have the choice of

    - Paying murdoch for his bollocks
    - Using another news source

    I'm no convict but I can safely say that conundrum wouldn't keep me away at night.

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat Fondles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    You must be very fucking dumb if you can't find ad-supported news sites.
    I find ads even more annoying so go fuck off.

  23. #23
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fondles View Post
    I find ads even more annoying so go fuck off.

    Aw diddums. Did the nasty website serve up an ad for a car or a TV that you can't afford?


  24. #24
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    If you look at their argument, it is that they are losing ad-revenue because people can read their paid content on facetube.
    as far as I know - I don't use farcebook - it only showed the headlines etc - probably why the gutter press has moved to such clickbait headlines - then it is linked to the news story

  25. #25
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldrick View Post
    as far as I know - I don't use farcebook - it only showed the headlines etc - probably why the gutter press has moved to such clickbait headlines - then it is linked to the news story

    Google and Facebook, who dominate a digital ad business that pays them billions of dollars while news organizations go bankrupt, have been vehemently opposed to the law. Over the last several months, both havethreatened to take their services away from Australians if it were to pass.
    In the end, Google blinked. The search giant has already started working out payment deals with Australian publications. On Wednesday, it announced a deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Murdoch, Australia’s exceedingly rich and powerful news magnate and native son, has been very vocal about wanting a law that forces digital platforms to pay his publications, and he may well have influenced the country’s decision to move forward with this law.
    Why Facebook banned news in Australia, but Google cut a deal instead with News Corp. and Murdoch - Vox

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