Australia could just be the first theatre in Facebook’s play to get out of the news biz.
Just this past weekend, Treasurer Frydenberg was humblebragging about his chats with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He must be feeling a bit cancelled now, with the platform’s overnight confirmation that it would block anyone in Australia from posting news stories from local or international sources.
It confirms Facebook’s announcement last August. Now we’re seeing what that means for Australians who spend about 12% of total internet time on Facebook News Feed.
The Facebook block is already disrupting both news and non-news organisations who have relied on the dominant social media platform to reach Australians. Now, from weather to the last on COVID-19, it looks like the audience will have to, um, Google it.
