Australians are outraged after Facebook blocked important public service pages as part of its unprecedented news ban from the platform.
The social media giant on Thursday blocked all media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a dispute with the Government about paying for content.
Australia had been proposing, by law, to require Facebook and Google to reach commercial deals with news outlets to share or view Australian and international news on the platforms.
While Google has sealed deals with several outlets in recent days, Facebook is refusing to do the same and Australians woke to empty news feeds on Thursday.
As part of the ban, Facebook has also scrubbed official health and meteorology (BOM) pages, and pages providing help to those suffering from domestic violence such as 1800Respect, 7 News reports.
The pages of the Queensland and South Australia state health departments, where a quarter of the country's 25 million population are directed for reliable information about COVID-19, were also stripped of content.
In a statement, Human Rights Watch said it was an "alarming and dangerous turn of events".
"Cutting off access to vital information to an entire country in the dead of the night is unconscionable."
Science & Technology Australia chief executive Misha Schubert said the move risked denying the public access to important scientific and health information.
"For Facebook to block access to the feeds of trusted science and health organisations in Australia during a pandemic and bushfire season is irresponsible and dangerous."
Sydney Morning Herald editor Lisa Davies said on Twitter: "Well, that's a tantrum. Facebook has exponentially increased the opportunity for misinformation, dangerous radicalism, and conspiracy theories to abound on its platform."
"So Facebook can instantly block @abcperth, @6PR, @BOM_au, @BOM_WA, AND @dfes_wa in the middle of the #bushfire season, but they can't take down murderous gun crime videos? Incredible," Opposition MP Madeleine King wrote. "Unbelievable. Unacceptable. The arrogance."
"Targeting victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Good one, Facebook," wrote ABC reporter Jason Om.
"Facebook appears to have also blocked key Government information pages - Australia's weather bureau; police agencies - whether intentionally or not. Wide censorship here," said BBC Australia reporter Frances Mao.
"Australia - get ready for your Facebook experience to be filled with nothing but dangerous misinformation and disinformation. They've essentially just banned sharing real, external news on Facebook in Australia," Kiwi journalist David Farrier said in a tweet. "This is terrifying."
"Facebook has blocked Australia's news content but wouldn't block the ability to livestream after the Christchurch terror attack," Newshub Nation reporter Anna Bracewell-Worrall tweeted.
In a statement on Thursday, Facebook said Australia's proposed law "fundamentally misunderstands" the relationship between itself and publishers and it faced a stark choice of attempting to comply or banning news content.
Australia Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Twitter he had a "constructive discussion" with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday and that talks with the company on the new law would continue. The post did not say whether he spoke with Zuckerberg before or after Facebook imposed the change.
Reuters / Newshub.
