Facebook decided in February to remove all news from its Australian platform. So Australia has unwittingly become a test case in the power struggle between governments and big tech companies. The unfolding situation will be closely watched around the world, and there will be lessons and wide-ranging consequences for all of us.

After years of inquiry into the unprecedented power and market share held by both Facebook and Google, Australian policymakers had sought to level the playing field when it came to the media. The idea was to compensate media companies — which have been losing out on a share of digital advertising dollars – by charging for Australian news on the online platforms. But Facebook had tired of this pressure to pay publishers and instead removed all of them from its site, preventing any news from being shared or seen by Australian users.

The principle — of strengthening struggling media outlets and financing local journalism – was sound. As a member of that media landscape, I certainly wasn’t protesting, despite some issues with the plan.

There was the hypocrisy, for a start. The policy came from a federal government that has for the better part of a decade slashed funding for local broadcasters the ABC and SBS.

And the proposals also highlight a greater failing of governance. If Facebook and Google are making billion dollar profits while local publishers decline, then an argument might exist to simply tax the uber-wealthy multinationals and use the money to finance local journalism.

Easier said than done. While countries have fretted over the problem for years, all are still figuring out how to compel digital businesses to pay tax where they make their sales, rather than the tax havens of their choosing.

Similarly, if enormous market power is a concern, then we will need measures to curtail the size of these trillion dollar tech companies. There’s an increasing appetite for such limitations in the US, where these corporations originate, now that a handful of Big Tech companies have amassed what just a few decades ago would have been unthinkable monopolies.

The triumvirate that is Amazon, Google and Facebook basically provide every service we use everyday, from emails and social media to data storage and directions. Convenient? Absolutely. Problematic in the long-term? Completely. Increasingly difficult to manage? You bet.

Facebook’s decision to turn its back on news in Australia is the perfect example. Rather than negotiate with a federal government it has simply made good on a threat it has been making for months.

As a private company, Facebook can do this — but it highlights a lack of goodwill towards its consumers and, more importantly, a neglect of its responsibilities.

Australians can still buy the newspaper, visit a homepage, listen to the radio, or watch the television to get their news. But the hard data tells us many individuals simply won’t.

More than half of all Australians read news on social media, and all Australians spend more time on Facebook than any other social media site. While some will certainly go elsewhere to find out what’s going on in their street, their parliament and their world, others aren’t going to seek out a reliable news outlet.

The reality, that a majority of Australians suddenly lost their major source of information, should trouble us all. If an informed public is the cornerstone of a democracy, then this can only be a step in the wrong direction.

What’s more, it is the news organisations that desired financing that are prevented from posting on the platform. The move doesn’t affect any other organisation long-term.

It allows anyone to fill that void provided they are not a legitimate source of news. In a time when fake news has become ubiquitous, this is undoubtedly a dangerous move.

Fringe theories can now be pushed, alternative facts can be published, and all manner of informational garbage can flood the platform completely unchallenged. None of it will be vetted by journalists, and none of it contextualised. Ethical and editorial standards be damned.

This is the new status quo, produced by a multinational flexing its might while governments struggle to find new solutions to very real problems.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 257 March 2021: 3