The battle between media companies and foreign governments over who controls the news dates back some 150 years, to when European and US wire services dictated the world’s headlines.
If you’re fed up with Facebook, there are many options to step away, from taking a deactivation break, to a digital spring clean of how the platform accesses your data, to a full divorce.
With regional news outlets long in decline, people have been increasingly turning to social media for information. Facebook’s news ban places that under threat.
From screenshots, to rival social platforms, to the old-school method of visiting a newspaper’s homepage, there are plenty of ways to get your news fix without clicking on Facebook.
Facebook’s decision to ban media organisations from posting links to news articles on the social media giant’s platform comes under a week before Australia’s COVID vaccine rollout begins.
It may have seemed the platforms were taking a confident stance by appealing to Australian users directly. But really, it was a delayed and panic-based reaction.
If the government wants to save the social benefit of public-interest journalism, it must look beyond the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code.