The World Is Angry With Facebook's Arrogance Reluctant To Share Money With Mass Media

Mark Zuckerberg (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - The tension between the Australian government and the tech giant, Facebook is entering a new chapter. This tension stems from the issuance of a law that will make Facebook pay for news content to the mass media. Facebook responded by banning Australian news content, taking tension to an even higher level.

One newspaper, Rupert Murdoch, described the situation as "at war." Another point of view sees what Australia does as an affront to a basic principle of the internet: neutrality.

The Tech Tent podcast channel this week asked Mark Zuckerberg if he was overdoing it. The question for Mark also targets the possibility of other countries following what Australia is doing.

Mark replied confidently that the courageous move to extinguish the news from a country will have a global impact: politicians from the world will think about how to treat Facebook. And Mark seems right.

Facebook, however, plays an important role in disseminating information. And the blocking, in fact, does not only touch the mass media but also government websites, including health authorities. Now the latest information about COVID-19, which was widely available on Facebook, is not available.

Provoke Anger

Facebook is now facing a global wave of anger. Not only from media and political organizations in Australia. In the United States (US), Democratic member of Congress David Cicilline said Facebook is not compatible with democracy.

And Facebook's threat to bring the whole country to its knees is what David calls a form of arrogance toward Facebook's power and monopoly. In the UK, Julian Knight MP, who chairs the Commons media electoral committee, called Facebook's behavior very disturbing.

"It is a very rude act," he told the BBC, quoted Friday, February 19.

"I don't think they're good citizens, not only in Australia, but elsewhere (too) ... Pulling the plug overnight represents the worst kind of corporate culture."

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