Facebook users in Australia may soon be blocked from sharing news on the platform, if the rule forcing companies to pay publishers for content becomes a law.

The tech giant issued the warning on Monday, August 31, as it said Australia’s regulation is counterproductive to the goal of supporting news groups. (READ: Governments force Google, Facebook to pay for news. Can they win vs big tech?)

“Assuming this draft code becomes law, we will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram. This is not our first choice – it is our last. But it is the only way to protect against an outcome that defies logic and will hurt, not help, the long-term vibrancy of Australia’s news and media sector,” said Will Easton, managing director of Facebook Australia and New Zealand

“We are left with a choice of either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits. Unfortunately, no business can operate that way,” Easton added.

Facebook slammed how the measure “seeks to regulate every aspect of how tech companies do business with news publishers.”

“Most perplexing, it would force Facebook to pay news organizations for content that the publishers voluntarily place on our platforms and at a price that ignores the financial value we bring publishers.”

Australia’s initiative has been closely watched around the globe as news media suffer in an increasingly digital economy where big tech firms capture advertising revenue. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated this problem.

Under the proposal, an arbitration panel would decide how much the tech companies must pay publishers if the two sides cannot agree.

Many European countries have tried but mostly failed to force platforms to pay publishers. 

In 2014, when Spain passed a law forcing Google to pay for headlines and news summaries in Google News, the company just removed Spanish news outlets. The service remains closed to date.

News not a ‘significant source’ of revenue

Facebook maintained that news on its platform “is not a significant source of revenue.” Even then, they said they train media organizations and help publishers increase readership and gain more revenue.

“News organizations in Australia and elsewhere choose to post news on Facebook for this precise reason, and they encourage readers to share news across social platforms to increase readership of their stories. This in turn allows them to sell more subscriptions and advertising,” they claimed.

The company earlier announced its plans to launch Facebook News, a feature on the platform exclusively for news, in Australia. Facebook is paying some of the publishers for their work. 

Facebook claimed its publisher partners in the US have gained traffic and new audiences because of the new feature.

Google also opposed the proposal and told Australians in an open letter that it “would force us to provide you with a dramatically worse Google Search and YouTube” and “put the free services you use at risk in Australia.” – Rappler.com