Social media giant Facebook has come out swinging over the Morrison government’s proposed news media bargaining code, threatening to stop Australians from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram if the code becomes law.
Facebook and Google have been hit with a class action alleging their 2018 decisions to ban advertising of cryptocurrencies breached competition laws.
Google and Facebook will face penalties of at least $10 million for breaches of a media bargaining code drafted by the ACCC that aims to create a “level playing field” between Australian media companies and the tech giants.
US-based Facebook has argued that it does not carry on business in Australia despite users in Australia accessing its website, calling for the dismissal of action brought by the Australian Information Commissioner over alleged privacy breaches.
A group of IP lawyers has warned the Government will have to proceed carefully in establishing a mandatory code under which Google and Facebook would be forced to pay news publishers for content, saying such a move could be struck down under existing High Court precedent.
Digital giants Google and Facebook will be required to pay for news content under a new mandatory code being developed by the Government to create a ‘level playing field’ in the Australian media industry, which is facing a sharp decline in advertising revenue driven by the coronavirus.
Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram will call for a stay of a Federal Court competition lawsuit brought by an Australian social media startup as it seeks to arbitrate the matter under Californian law.
Facebook has been hit with regulatory action by the Privacy Commissioner alleging the social media giant exposed the personal information of over 300,000 Australian users to third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, without authorisation.
A judge is expected to issue a temporary injunction Thursday barring Facebook and Instagram from blocking users who are customers of a Melbourne-based social media startup that has accused the companies of trying to quash competition.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will get an additional $26.9 million to take on Google and Facebook, but the Federal Government will proceed more slowly in implementing some of the more wide-ranging proposals in the regulator’s final digital platforms report, including suggested changes to privacy and merger review laws.