Facebook puts money over social responsibility

In case you have not caught up, government organisations in Australia including emergency services and weather forecasters have also had their pages removed by Facebook after the social media giant slapped a ban on Australian users and publishers from sharing or viewing news content.

Fire and Rescue NSW, South Australia Health, Queensland Health have all had their pages wiped this morning.

The Bureau of Meteorology also confirmed to 9News.com.au it’s affected.

This is simply unacceptable and shows the greed of this social media company.

South Australia Health said on Twitter: “It appears SA Health has been caught up in the Facebook restrictions that came into place overnight for Australian news outlets.

“Our website remains active. You can follow our Instagram and Twitter for your health news.

“SA Health has contacted Facebook to rectify this issue.”

Some non-government organisations are also reporting being affected.

The Medical Journal of Australia also said on Twitter its Facebook page had been “blocked”.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions also said it has been blocked in a Tweet.

The social media giant will prohibit publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content in response to Australia’s proposed media bargaining laws — a move Nine says will inhibit news creators from sharing quality news and information.

Facebook this morning said it was left with a “stark choice” after being unable to find a “solution” in discussions with the Australian government.

“The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,” William Easton, Facebook’s Australia and New Zealand managing director, said in a blog post.

“It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter.“

Nine, which is the publisher of this site, said it was “unreasonable behaviour”. For my part I think this is unconscionable particularly during a pandemic to be cutting off from government departments that put this information out at no cost for the good of society and shows the true measure of Mark Zuckerberg’s and the power he is prepared to use for his personal greed over everything else.

For my part, I will scaling back my use of Facebook and certainly will not knowingly be purchasing and product or service advertised on the Facebook platform.

While completely unrelated to this decision which was made before I discovered this, was that I noticed that LMI Group too has been effected with blog posts to the Facebook site. I only say this because it may be effecting your business as well.