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Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

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Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#251

Post by askesum »

cabalamat wrote: post #203
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely want to ban self-driving cars that behave in ways no human can explain or understand! The mere idea that anyone would think that should be legal is borderline insane . All you are doing here is convincing me that tech companies are just runaway trains with nobody at the controls!

> I absolutely want to ban self-driving cars that behave in ways no human can explain or understand! Can you explain or understand the algorithms humans use to drive cars?

Humans are held responsible if they cause harm to others. If a driver hits a pedestrian on purpose he is charged with murder. Who do you charge if a self-driving car behaves in this way?

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#252

Post by rurp »

djoldman wrote: post #221
sjy wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are we really saying that people cannot stop using social media? Are we saying that people don't think it's bad for them? Yes, that’s part of the definition of ‘addictive.’ Internet and social media addiction is well documented, even though not all users are addicted. Like gambling.

Should we force casinos to change in order to be less addictive?

Casinos are highly regulated and must follow a number of restrictions on how they market their products and handle troubled players. So yes, our society has indeed already decided that casinos should be forced to be less predatory.

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#253

Post by bobnamob »

jjcm wrote: post #232

I live in Australia and while I'm excited to see less Facebook use, I see a lot of comments saying things like, "good, Facebook monetized an addiction model and this curbs that". While true, the proposed law that has pushed them to do this is incredibly dangerous. The law doesn't just apply to Facebook, it applies to whoever the Treasurer of Australia[0] says it applies to - it isn't metrics/rules based: https://i.im…

Fb may have overshot. They've not only blocked news pages but gov pages as well. Most people I know in aus have been getting covid updates purely through government body social media posts. These are now blocked.

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#254

Post by echevil »

catmanjan wrote: post #239
jjcm wrote: post #232

I live in Australia and while I'm excited to see less Facebook use, I see a lot of comments saying things like, "good, Facebook monetized an addiction model and this curbs that". While true, the proposed law that has pushed them to do this is incredibly dangerous. The law doesn't just apply to Facebook, it applies to whoever the Treasurer of Australia[0] says it applies to - it isn't metrics/rules based: https://i.im…

While that is probably technically true, in reality the Australian government is unlikely to make Australian businesses comply, giving them a competitive advantage - I think this is a protectionist policy, but the right won't admit to that because it goes against their "free market" ideals.

Does Australia have businesses in similar model like Facebook? Or are you talking about completely different models?

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#255

Post by IfOnlyYouKnew »

djoldman wrote: post #195
IfOnlyYouKnew wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These links and snippets are mutually beneficial. The argument is if the “natural” allocation of benefits is fair and the best possible for society.

Interesting take. Are you saying that laws should exist to disallow linking between two websites based on "allocation of benefits"? If so, how does one determine what the balance of benefits are?

No, of course I’m not saying whatever silly extrapolation you put into my mouth.

I‘m saying there is a complex interaction between content creators and aggregators, and a power imbalance currently favoring the aggregator. I’m also saying that high-quality journalism is a necessary condition for a functioning democracy.

Combining these thoughts leads to the conclusion that it may not actually be the worst idea to reverse some of the changes the market for news has seen in the last few years.

I have no idea if Australia’s policy will end up working. But the collective pearl clutching and either pretend or real ignorance with regard to the motivation for this law in the comments here is just breathtaking.

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#256

Post by echevil »

jjcm wrote: post #232

I live in Australia and while I'm excited to see less Facebook use, I see a lot of comments saying things like, "good, Facebook monetized an addiction model and this curbs that". While true, the proposed law that has pushed them to do this is incredibly dangerous. The law doesn't just apply to Facebook, it applies to whoever the Treasurer of Australia[0] says it applies to - it isn't metrics/rules based: https://i.im…

I'm not familiar with news media consumption in Australia, but I wonder would this push users to news aggregators like "News Break" or "Apple News"?

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#257

Post by IfOnlyYouKnew »

nojs wrote: post #180
IfOnlyYouKnew wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody disputes the economics. That’s why a law was needed. You’re confusing might with right.

If linking to Australian news content is not in the financial interests of the company, why would they continue to do it? It shouldn’t be surprising that they choose not to.

Yes, it’s in their immediate interest in the same way as working for $5/day is preferable to not working.

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#258

Post by gkmcd »

DavidSJ wrote: post #215
gkmcd wrote: post #60

A key part of this legislation is the requirements for tech companies to provide selected news organisations with advance notice about changes to ranking algorithms. This has been generally overlooked in the reporting and discussion but I believe it is the actually the most important part of the legislation. It will give the selected news organisations an enormous advantage over other companies not included and prote…

> a particular media company that currently dominates the media landscape here What is this company, out of curiosity? My guess is ABC, but I don't know.

As others have started, when looking at events in Australia, you can consider the currently-governing Liberal party (economically liberal, socially conservative) and News Corp as effectively the same organisation.

On the other hand, the Liberal party is very hostile to the public service in general and the ABC in particular.

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#259

Post by devjam »

quink wrote: post #5
gambiting wrote: post #4

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think I'm going to side with FB on this. The Australian government is once again showing absolute disregard when it comes to understanding technology, and its signature heavy handed approach to regulation.

One recent quote from the former prime minister when Australia was planning to introduce backdoors to end-to-end encryption: > "The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia"

That quote didn't do Malcolm Turnbull any favours.

He was certainly one of the more forward-thinking, progressive PMs we've had. As just one example, he actually believes climate change is real.

Re: Changes to sharing and viewing news on Facebook in Australia

#260

Post by 6nf »

clouddrover wrote: post #14
gambiting wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they? Surely Australian companies are now also forbidden from sharing their stories on Facebook.

Yes. It was of no value to them anyway. That's what the legislation is about: preventing platforms with market dominance capturing most of the advertising revenue with no real return to the organizations producing the content.

So then Facebook did us all a favour? Is this what the legislation was meant to do, stop all news on FB?
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