Facebook may block news from being shared on its platforms in Australia

Illustration by James Bareham / The Verge

Facebook plans to block the sharing of local and international news stories on its platforms if legislation requiring tech platforms to pay publishers for content becomes law, the company said in a blog post Monday.

“Australia is drafting a new regulation that misunderstands the dynamics of the internet and will do damage to the very news organisations the government is trying to protect,” Will Easton, managing director of Facebook Australia and New Zealand wrote in the blog post, arguing that the commission overseeing the process “ignored important facts,” including the relationship between social media and news media.

“Assuming this draft code becomes law, we will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from...

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