KATE THOMPSON DAVY: Manufacturing Outrage 101: the social media guide to kneecapping the news
Facebook has played a role in undermining the news media — and the repercussions are world-changing
News broke on Tuesday that Facebook was back-pedalling on last week’s alarming Australian news blackout, having come to terms with the Aussies over the proposed News Media Bargaining Code. At the same time, Google has gone quiet on its threat to withdraw its search functionality Down Under in response to the same code.
The legislation, Associated Press explains, “was designed to curb the outsize bargaining power of Facebook and Google in their negotiations with Australian news providers”. Under the new code the “digital giants would not be able to abuse their positions by making take-it-or-leave-it payment offers to news businesses for their journalism,” AP wrote...
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