Australia passes new law that requires big tech to pay for news content

2021 seems like a year of standoffs for Facebook as it starts a string of battles after the Australian Government passes a first of its kind, Pay-for-news law. Facebook began the battle aggressively after blocking news across Australia to suppress demands that Facebook pays media companies for content that’s shared on the platform.

As expected, a domino effect is underway as publishers are pushing even the European Union to follow the steps of the Australian Government.

US legislators have been extremely vocal on their concerns with Facebook with many questioning the compatibility of the social media giant with democracy.

According to media reports, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been reported saying that he discussed Facebook with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Canadian leader Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, and the UK's Boris Johnson, whose government plans to conduct antitrust probes into its operations.

Facebook hasn’t really been able to shrug off the dark clouds since they were involved in the Cambridge Analytica incident during Donal Trump’s Presidential Campaign. Facebook’s attempt to cut off news sharing in Australia was heavily criticized as it jeopardized several credible sources of information about the coronavirus and the updates on the vaccine.

Facebook has also been at loggerheads with Apple as they plan to bring changes to the iPhone privacy rules that’ll require permissions before using and accessing data and user activity. 

In all, 2021 seems like an extremely challenging year for Facebook.