The Conversation is a great news site. But, for the most part, people do not read it like a newspaper. Instead, articles on specialised topics are shared with other people. One way is via Facebook.
On January 18, almost none of that was possible worldwide for The Conversation’s Australian content because Facebook opted to ban all news (even seeming news ) from Australian sources to avoid being designated for compulsory negotiations under the legislation before the Australian parliament.
The government’s new media bargaining code was a response to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry that found it was hard for content providers, including but not limited to news organisations – to deal with platforms whose rules were always changing.
Parts of these grievances are legitimate and relate to editorial and algorithmic issues. Others relate to the platform’s stranglehold on online advertising.
But rather than tackle these issues…
