At a press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison reiterated his stance on the Media Blog that Australia cannot be intimidated.
As we wrote earlier, Facebook has banned sharing of news in Australia after the island’s new media bill was not approved. Incidentally, the tech company’s decision resulted in a freeze on many state and government branches, and even the cancellation of non-profit charities for a while.
Several countries sided with the Australians
Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned Facebook’s decision to put it into practice “Australia has been removed from your friends”. He confirmed at a press conference on Friday that Britain, Canada, France and India had already received assurances of their support. Facebook also called for engaging constructively in the debate.
What Australia does today is likely to be done by other Western countries tomorrow. ”
he added.
Canada may follow Australia for the first time
The latter was not mistaken, as Canadian Culture Minister Stephen Gilbault said Thursday that Canada is ready to put the “Australian model” on the agenda for its legislation in the coming months.
The applicable law requires Facebook and Google to pay Australian media participation fees or face fines. The new legislation has been approved by the Australian House of Commons and the Senate is expected to vote on it next week.
