Earlier this year, in protest of new legislation introduced by the Australian government, social-media giant Facebook killed news-sharing across its Australian platform. The move affected millions of users – effectively silencing thousands of grass-roots activist groups and small media outlets – including community radio.
To find out more about this, Indymedia’s Allan Boyd caught up with digital-rights campaigner David Paris to talk about Facebook’s bullying tactics and the culture of Surveillance Capitalism…
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In February 2021, the Australian government passed its News Media Bargaining Code through the House of Representatives.
The new mandatory code promises to “help support the sustainability of public interest journalism in Australia” by addressing “bargaining power imbalances between digital platforms and Australian news businesses.”
In retaliation, Facebook “with (as they put it) a heavy heart,” restricted Australian users from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content on its platform. Facebook effectively blocked all ‘news’ on the Australian site.
Facebook’s ham-fisted tantrum was a blanket-bash for many small and independent media outlets caught up in the ban, including community radio stations and specialist publications – causing uproar across the internet.
To discuss this I’m joined by digital comms guru David Paris – who’s article Facebook lets the world burn was recently published in the Green Agenda Quarterly.
To find out more about this, Indymedia’s Allan Boyd caught up with digital-rights campaigner David Paris to talk about Facebook’s bullying tactics and the culture of Surveillance Capitalism…
David is a digital communications expert with over 20-years-experience in the field, having worked for Australian Greens Leaders Bob Brown, Christine Milne, and their parliamentary teams as well former WA Senator Scott Ludlam. He has worked on social, environmental, media and digital rights campaigns with NGOs in the UK, EU, USA, Canada and Australia. He is currently a freelance campaigner and writer and joins me now…
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File: DAVID_PARIS_FACEBOOK.WAV
16 mins and 7 seconds (Station ID at 9 mins)
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Digital-rights campaigner David Paris talking with Indymedia’s Allan Boyd.
You can read David’s article Facebook lets the world burn in Green Agenda Quarterly.
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David Paris’ article: https://greenagenda.org.au/2021/02/facebook-lets-the-world-burn/