In a world-first, seemingly impulsive move, Facebook removed all Australian news content from their platform yesterday, as well as restricted all Australian Facebook users from seeing international news content.
Australians woke up to all news outlets having been restricted on Facebook, where no historical posts were visible, and having no ability to post any content, news or otherwise.
In the crossfire, non-news related pages including several government agencies, emergency services, and big brands had their Facebook pages blocked as well.
To discuss this, our Agency Director Ryan Shelley was interviewed by Singapore’s Channel News Asia for some Aussie insight. He observed:
“When it comes to legislation and big tech, we’re a bit of a proving ground and test bed and we’re fully aware of that. This could be a test of legislation and technology to see how our market reacts and how bigger markets could react.”
Ryan went on to offer:
“Any business who doesn’t stand up and take notice — whether it’s diversifying social media platforms or marketing leads and SEO — it’s going to be a big wake up call.”
Check out the interview below.
