“Facebook intentionally blocks Australian government to undermine news law” – IT Pro – News

In addition to the news sites, Facebook is reported to have intentionally banned the Australian government on social media in 2021 to increase pressure on the new media code. This would also hamper Australian hospitals, charities and emergency services.

In this way, the social medium would have preemptively pressured the Australian government not to adopt the News Media Bargaining Act, they claimed. Unidentified employees of the Wall Street Journal† Internal documents provided by sources reveal that Facebook is pleased with the results of its deliberate strategy to disrupt communications from the Australian government.

The company claims that Australian government websites have already been blocked temporarily, but this was due to a “technical error”. Facebook is said to have found a solution quickly and described the sources’ claims as “unconditionally and clearly untrue.”

The technical flaw that Facebook is referring to has something to do with the algorithm used to decide what should be classified as news. This was developed by a team of about ten members of the news department. When 60 percent of a website falls under “News,” it is rated as such. This parameter has also seen Australian weather forecasts and emergency services as news sites. The existing news page index database which contains all major news sites has not been intentionally used.

In other words, he will choose this new system very broadly based on vague criteria; Criticisms also expressed by the social medium regarding the drafting of the bill. Employees who raised the issue of the government communications ban via Facebook were said to have been ignored or received very limited attention.

Rod Sims, then chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, doesn’t think Facebook did this on purpose. “It’s either a conspiracy theory that they did it on purpose, or they made a mistake,” Sims told the Wall Street Journal. “I’m leaning toward the latter.”

In February 2021 stop Facebook By the algorithm for more than a week of news and references to other “news sites” in Australia. Users are no longer able to see such messages and can no longer share links to specific websites.

There is no unequivocal answer about the impact of Facebook’s alleged aggressive and deliberate strategy. On the other hand, a show of force on social media could have emphasized the need for the law in the eyes of the Australian government. Politicians reacted very strongly to Facebook’s policies at the time of the blockade. On the other hand, important details were announced in the news media bargaining law after news websites were banned Suddenly adapted†