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Facebook 'unfriends' Australia in warning for rest of the world

Govt hits out at tech giant after emergency sites blocked over decision on proposed media law

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A planned Australian law would require Facebook and Google to reach commercial deals with news outlets whose links drive traffic to their platforms

Byron Kaye | Reuters Sydney
Australians woke to empty Facebook news feeds on Thursday, after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise escalation of a dispute with the government, which could be a test for the future of online publishing worldwide.

The move was swiftly criticised by news producers, politicians and human rights advocates, particularly as it became clear that official health pages, emergency safety warnings and welfare networks had all been scrubbed from the site along with news.

“Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing,” Prime