- Escalating tensions with Canberra, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) said it will stop Australians sharing news content on its platforms if a proposal to make it pay local media outlets for their content becomes law.
- The country would become the first to make the giant social network and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) - which is also opposed to the legislation - pay for news sourced from local providers under a royalty-style system.
- "This is not our first choice - it is our last. 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," Facebook Australia Managing Director Will Easton said in a blog post.
- "We don't respond to coercion or heavy handed threats wherever they come from," Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in response, adding that that the proposed law was in the national interest and followed 18 months of public inquiry.
- Like in most countries, Australia's traditional media companies in recent years have seen their mainstay advertising income streams eroded by online competitors.