The Australian government’s approach to Facebook is laudable but flawed

Editorial: The move in Australia to force Facebook to pay more to news organisations for ‘content’ has proved counterproductive

The social media giant blocked news content from Australia (Getty)

The latest row about the power of tech giants looks simple enough: Australia is standing up for itself against Facebook and Google.

The background has more shades of grey. The internet has created undreamed of markets for news, innovative channels for its dissemination and countless forums for opinion and analysis. Audiences – readers and viewers – have never been bigger. Old business models for newspapers and broadcasters have been smashed, but new ones are not yet firmly established. Meanwhile, truth and fact sometimes face a toxic wave of misinformation conspiracy theories, propaganda and hate.

The paradoxes are many and the solutions elusive. Laudable as the Australian government’s motives may be, its proposal to force Facebook and Google to pay more to a wider variety of news organisations for the content that features on their sites has proved counterproductive. While Google has already announced deals with some news organisations, Facebook has simply exited the news game in the country – and Australians have been deprived overnight of news on their feeds.