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The News Roundup — International

In this photo illustration, a message is seen on Facebook mobile,in Melbourne, Australia. Facebook has banned publishers and users in Australia from posting and sharing news content as the Australian government prepares to pass laws that will require social media companies to pay news publishers for sharing or using content on their platforms.
In this photo illustration, a message is seen on Facebook mobile,in Melbourne, Australia. Facebook has banned publishers and users in Australia from posting and sharing news content as the Australian government prepares to pass laws that will require social media companies to pay news publishers for sharing or using content on their platforms.

Facebook blocked users in Australia from sharing news this week in response to proposed legislation by the Australian government.

From The Wall Street Journal’s explanation of what’s going on:

Facebook opposes legislation by the Australian government that would effectively require big tech companies to pay the country’s media outlets for content. The legislation, which is being watched globally and could offer a model for other governments to follow, is working its way through the country’s parliament.

To Australian users, the Facebook pages belonging to media outlets in Australia and overseas—including The Wall Street Journal—appeared blank on Thursday with a message saying, “No posts yet.” Users who tried to post a link to a news article got a notification saying the post couldn’t be shared. Some people tried to find workarounds, such as posting screenshots of articles. Links could still be shared on Facebook’s instant-messaging platform.

And large street protests continued in Myanmar after a coup deposed the country’s government on Feb. 1. Meanwhile, the top U.N. official for human rights warned the world about a potential troop crackdown on the protests.

Plus, the COVID-19 vaccination campaign continues around the world. This week, the World Health Organization approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency usage.

We get to those stories and more on the global edition of the News Roundup.

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