The head of the UK Parliament's digital and media committee says Facebook should be "ashamed" of its behaviour after it blocked access to news content for Australian users.
Key points:
- A senior British MP has hit out at Facebook's decision to block Australian users from their news feeds
- Julian Knight said Facebook's move was "crass" and amounted to "bullying"
- Several UK media organisations have also condemned the move by Facebook
MP Julian Knight, the chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, told the ABC he felt Australia was being singled out by Facebook as a warning to other countries looking to reign in the social media giant through legislation.
"I think it's crass, and it's bullying, and I think Facebook should be ashamed of their behaviour," Mr Knight said.
"It's turned the clock back several years in terms of relationships around the globe, and social media platforms."
On Thursday morning Australian Facebook users woke up to find they had been blocked from viewing or sharing news content from publisher's pages on the platform — a move in response to the Australian government's proposed media bargaining laws that would force tech giants to pay news organisations for their content.
British authorities are currently looking into the role tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter play in the daily lives of its citizens and the economics of different industries, and Mr Knight said the Competition Markets Authority had set up a Digital Markets Unit to regulate the industry.
He resiled, however, from committing Britain to follow Australia's path.
"I'll be honest with you, I don't think that the policy that was designed by the Australian government is something that I would want to see precisely in the UK," he said.
"I'm not as such in absolute accord with everything the Australian government is doing, however Australia is very much like the canary in the coal mine right now."
While Mr Knight said he would not want to see exactly the same policy in the UK, he agreed tech giants like Facebook should be paying for content they make money from.
"On this issue I think we're all in this together," he said.
"I think Australia is being singled out by Facebook for a type of punishment beating, so that effectively it can show the rest of the world that when they come up with legislation of this type, in terms of social media platforms and ensuring a safe environment, that Facebook is willing to take unilateral action in the same way.
"Fundamentally it's the actions of a schoolyard bully."
Mr Knight said the current stoush between Facebook and Australia could be a test case for other countries around the world.
"So if Australia goes the wrong way now, if it finds itself bullied into submission, then frankly we're next," he said.
UK news organisations express concern
Two major news groups in the UK have also condemned the move by Facebook in Australia.
Guardian Media Group, the media company that owns the Guardian newspaper and the Guardian Australia news website, said it was deeply concerned by Facebook's move to block news feeds in Australia and called for fair regulation of online platforms.
"We are deeply concerned about Facebook's decision to remove news from its platform in Australia, which clears the way for the spread of misinformation at a time when facts and clarity are sorely needed," a Guardian Media Group spokesman said.
"Dominant online platforms are now a key gateway to news and information online.
"We believe that public interest journalism should be as widely available as possible in order to have a healthy functioning democracy.
"We have consistently argued that governments must play a role when it comes to establishing fair and transparent regulation of online platforms.
"The creation of the Digital Markets Unit in the UK will be crucial to establishing key principles of fair trading, open choices and trust and transparency in the digital economy."
MailOnline, one of world's most popular news websites, said it was astonished by Facebook's move to block all media content in Australia and that it hoped politicians there stood firm.
"So much for Facebook's commitment to free speech," a MailOnline spokesman said.
"We are astonished by this inflammatory move which is a blatant and clumsy attempt to try and intimidate the Australian government into watering down the provisions of the ACCC code.
"We trust Canberra's politicians stand firm and call Facebook's bluff by passing the legislation unchanged and enforce it to the letter of the law."
ABC/wires
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2021-02-18 20:07:00Z
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