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Facebook Bans Australians From Viewing or Sharing News on Its Platform

The extraordinary move was in response to a proposed piece of legislation that would force big tech companies to pay media outlets for using their work.

After Australia appeared set to pass a bill forcing big tech companies to pay news outlets to use their work, Facebook has banned users from sharing or reading news on its platform altogether. “This legislation sets a precedent where the government decides who enters into these news content agreements, and ultimately, how much the party that already receives value from the free service gets paid,” Facebook’s Australia and New Zealand managing director, William Easton, wrote in a statement on Wednesday. Google had threatened a similar move, but later struck multi-million deals with media companies to comply with the proposed law, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.