Media organisations are frantically trying to figure out what to do now that Facebook has pulled out of news. And it’s especially bad for small publishers.
Well shit, turns out they weren’t bluffing. This morning, Australians woke up to a newsfeed without news. Facebook has made good on its threats to block all news content in Australia overnight, hours after the government’s proposed media bargaining code, which forces tech companies to pay outlets, passed the lower house.
It’s been a chaotic morning in the media world. Editors and news directors have been locked in frantic morning meetings. Soothing statements quickly pumped out. Facebook’s ban has been both blunt and arbitrary, dragging pages nobody would consider news into its fight with the Australian government.
And if the tech giant doesn’t back down, the situation could cause huge disruption in an already turbulent Australian media landscape.
