The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook used an algorithm to affect pages beyond those of publishers in Australia ahead of legislation that would make digital platforms pay news outlets for their content.
The Journal reported that pages for the Australian government and health services were taken down as the country began to roll out its Covid vaccine program.
The Journal reported that the social media giant did not notify the affected pages in advance and that the takedown was launched before an appeals process was ready.
The documents and testimony were filed by people who claimed that Facebook wanted to put maximum pressure on Australian lawmakers to vote against the law.
The WSJ was told by Facebook that the moves were not a negotiating tactic and that the law didn't specify what was considered news.
The documents in question clearly show that we intended to exempt Australian government Pages from restrictions in order to minimize the impact of the legislation. Any suggestion to the contrary is completely false.
The report details actions Facebook took before the new legislation was passed that would make digital platforms like Facebook pay for news in order to display it on news feeds or in search results.
The law was opposed by both Facebook and Google, but they eventually reached commercial or government agreements.
The full report can be found in the Wall Street Journal.
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