The mistaken conflict between news companies and the internet
The furore over Facebook+Google versus the Australian media and government shows deep misconceptions over the relationship between platforms and media. Here’s an explainer.
19 February, 2021•17 min
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19 February, 2021•17 min
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Editor's note: For years, media executives, journalists and opinion writers around the world have decried the demise of journalism’s business model at the hands of two companies: Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. The reality is far more complex, but the idea of an intrinsic conflict between social/search platforms and online news media today more than ever before is driving discussions and even policymaking. Yesterday, Facebook announced that it would no longer allow Australian users to post links to news content, or show them any posts with links to news. Earlier this week, Google announced a slew of deals wherein it would pay out what has been estimated to be upwards of AUD 100 million per year to Australia’s largest publishers. Both came in response to a hotly debated incoming law that would have forced the companies to pay Australian media owners for the right to link to any content on the publishers’ sites. The situation is still playing out, but the outcomes in Australia will ripple throughout the world at a time when large American technology companies are under heavy regulatory …
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