---
url: 'https://dri.es/facebook-unfriends-australia'
title: 'Facebook unfriends Australia'
author:
  name: 'Dries Buytaert'
  url: 'https://dri.es/about'
date: '2021-02-18T04:14:57-05:00'
license: 'https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/'
type: blog
tags:
  - 'Open Web'
  - 'Social media'
image: blog/facebook-social-decay
published: true
id: 5151
---

# Facebook unfriends Australia

[image blog/facebook-social-decay]

In response to a proposed law that requires technology companies to pay Australian publishers for linking to their news articles, Facebook made the sudden decision to [restrict people and publishers from sharing news in Australia](https://about.fb.com/news/2021/02/changes-to-sharing-and-viewing-news-on-facebook-in-australia/).

Facebook struggles to silence misinformation for years, but succeeds in silencing quality news in days. In both cases, Facebook's fast and loose approach continues to hurt millions of people ...

Social media platforms, news publishers, governments and internet users have been stuck in an [inadequate equilibrium](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076Z64CPG/) for years. The silver lining is that conflict is often necessary for driving positive changes.

My preferred outcome is that Australians "unfriend" Facebook, and switch back to reading real new websites.
