For some time now Australian authorities and social network Facebook Inc. (FB) have been at loggerheads concerning Facebook paying for content circulated on its platform. An escalation of the matter has resulted to Facebook blocking all media content in Australia.
On February 18, people in Australia woke up to find empty news feeds after Facebook decided to block news feeds from local publishers. While in a televised news conference, Australia’s treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the move by Facebook was wrong from all angels and it would dent the company’s reputation.
“Facebook was wrong, Facebook’s actions were unnecessary, they were heavy-handed, and they will damage its reputation here in Australia,” said Frydenberg.
According to Frydenberg, founder and chief executive of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg issued no warning prior to news shutdown. He said the two spoke over the weekend concerning Australian laws that will push Facebook and Google to pay local publishers for using their content.
Frydenberg further revealed the two discussed on how they had differing interpretations concerning the new laws and how the new media bargaining code would work.
Both Google and Facebook had threatened to cut out services in Australia but Google at the end of last week Google managed to ink preemptive deals with multiple media outlets in Australia.
