Facebook Censors Australia: What Led To the ‘Tech World War’?

Facebook, Google vs Australia: Is the ‘tech world war’ the beginning of an end to free access?

The Quint's Sanjay Pugalia analyses the Facebook-Australia standoff. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Kanishk Dangi, Rahul Sanpui

Video Producer: Santosh Kumar, Hera Khan

Facebook has unfriended Australia because it says it has been misunderstood. An angry Australia has spoken to mutual friends, including India, about teaching Facebook a lesson.

Google, too, had posted on Australia’s wall, threatening to unfriend the country but, it has now grudgingly told the country that it wants to stay friends. What is the reason behind this tug of war between the tech giants and countries? The Quint's Editorial Director, Sanjay Pugalia analyses.

The Australian government came down heavily against Facebook’s decision to block news feeds as well as information about health and emergency services.

Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing.

Scott Morrison, Australian Prime Minister

Facebook took the action after the Australian government proposed laws that would require big tech platforms like Facebook and Google to reach commercial agreements and strike revenue deals with news outlets whose content drives traffic on the platforms.

The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content.

William Easton, Managing Director, Facebook Australia & New Zealand

Inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee also said hat Australia’s plan to make tech giants pay for journalism could “make the web unworkable around the world”.

While the Tech companies are under stress, the big question is – Will countries across the world impose regulations?

However, in India, which is a big a market for tech companies, there has been no discussion over the regulation.