Facebook Bans Sharing and Viewings News in Australia

Facebook Bans Sharing and Viewings News in Australia

This morning, we saw some of our Australian friends complaining that they can’t share or read news on Facebook. We checked and there are no postings available at Australian Media Facebook Pages such as The Daily Telegraph, The Australian and more. This comes after Facebook Bans Sharing and Viewings News in Australia due to Australia’s proposed new Media Bargaining Code.

The facebook posted at https://about.fb.com/news/2021/02/changes-to-sharing-and-viewing-news-on-facebook-in-australia/ on Changes to Sharing and Viewing News on Facebook in Australia.

If you are interested to know what is the Australia Media Bargaining Code, you can read it at https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/digital-platforms/news-media-bargaining-code

What are the Changes to Sharing and Viewing News on Facebook in Australia?

For Australian publishers this means:

• They are restricted from sharing or posting any content on Facebook Pages
• Admins will still be able to access other features from their Facebook Page, including Page insights and Creator Studio   
• We will continue to provide access to all other standard Facebook services, including data tools and CrowdTangle

For international publishers this means:

• They can continue to publish news content on Facebook, but links and posts can’t be viewed or shared by Australian audiences

For our Australian community this means: 

• They cannot view or share Australian or international news content on Facebook or content from Australian and international news Pages 

For our international community this means:

• They cannot view or share Australian news content on Facebook or content from Australian news Pages 

The changes affecting news content will not otherwise change Facebook’s products and services in Australia. 

With Facebook Bans Sharing and Viewings News in Australia, we cannot view or share Australian news content on Facebook anymore.

Source: https://about.fb.com/news/2021/02/changes-to-sharing-and-viewing-news-on-facebook-in-australia/

Wilson Ng