US-based organization Whistleblower has accused Meta, formerly known as Facebook, of intentionally blocking and taking down the pages of Australian emergency services as a negotiating tactic last year.
Back in February 2021, the social media giant Meta was lobbying to weaken a proposed law where it was required to pay Australian news providers for the information they post on their platform. Due to the forced law, it blocked all Australian news outlets from its platform. However, where it only wanted to block new outlets in Australia, the algorithm also blocked other various websites like state health and fire services by accident.
What Facebook said about the incident?
Facebook told AFP that any “suggestion to the contrary is categorically and obviously false.”
A meta spokesperson said that they intended to exempt Australian government pages from restrictions. This was done as an effort to reduce the impact of this harmful and misguided legislation. But when they failed to do so because of a technical error, they instantly apologized and worked harder to solve it.
Even though Meta claimed it to be an accident, US-based organization Whistleblower Aid believes that everything has been done purposely with the intention to force the government to weaken the proposed law. Whistleblower Aid Chief Libby Liu said that to protect the bottom line of Facebook, the company intentionally put lives at risk.
Just when Australian officials agreed not to force Facebook to negotiate with individual publishers, Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg said that it was the “best possible outcome in Australia.”
