(Reuters) – Facebook Inc on Monday said it would stop allowing news publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram if a proposed regulation on news content sharing being drafted by the Australian government becomes law.
“This is not our first choice – it is our last. But 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 said in a statement.
Australian government said in July it would require tech giants like Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay for news content provided by media companies under a royalty-style system that will become law this year.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
