Australia Kerfuffle Wins Facebook Friends: The Information’s Tech Briefing

The Australian government has managed the seemingly impossible, turning Facebook into a sympathetic creature for many tech pundits who have relentlessly pilloried the social network over the past few years. Commentary today and yesterday supported Facebook’s decision to block news content in Australia rather than give in to the proposed Australian news code governing how much internet firms pay for the content.

While Facebook’s stance makes perfect sense—and local publishers may well regret losing access to the social network’s audience—something in the debate seems a little off. Some coverage suggested the Australian news code was the equivalent of an attempted “shakedown” of Google and Facebook. That’s hilarious. Australia’s GDP in 2019 was $1.4 trillion, according to the Fed, which is the same as Alphabet’s current market capitalization. In no world we live in does Australia have the leverage to shake down either Facebook or Google.