FACEBOOK Blocks Coogee Media?
Part of Australia-wide Media Ban
Coogee Media woke this morning, 18th February 2021, to find that we could not access our Facebook feed. Our
first reaction was that we had somehow violated Facebook's almost opaque "Terms of Agreement". During the morning,
it came and went - but maybe we were just accessing a cache somewhere. We have no way of knowing - but it seems this
minnow was caught in the dispute between corporate giant Facebook and the sovereign power of Australia about the
payment of publishers.
Re-instated!
By late afternoon, however, we could happily report that our own content was back in view - obviously after Facebook's surgical
strike against Australian news sites,
deplorable as it is, has been fine tuned. We see this with the re-instatement of other, health information for instance, sites.
Could Facebook ever regain their reputation in Australia again?
Captain Arthur Phillip Banned
We are very careful
about what we publish and try hard not to offend anyone, but did once run afoul of Facebook some years ago when
we, jokingly, set up a page supposedly run by Captain Arthur Phillip, the British naval officer and first
Governor or New South Wales, who set up the
first European settlement at Sydney in 1788. Daily posts from Phillip purportedly mixed news of current historical
exhibitions and events with events from 1788. It was such an obviously absurd idea, that we could not imagaine anyone
would take it seriously. Facebook, however, took a very dim view and took it down on the basis that it misrepresenting
the personna of a celebrity or public figure. We were not too concerned - we rationalised that we could understand that
Facebook was a big organisation with standards that need to fit millions of different circumstances, and so we took
the ban in good grace.
His Excellency, the Governor, was not amused.
History & Satire: Not News
We use our facebook page from time to time to highlight stories on this site to our Facebook followers. Those stories
however, tend to be historical pieces, satire, and general musings. They are not what a rational person could call
news.
Blocking News from Facebook Feeds
A check of the ABC website, (Australia's major digital and most trusted news network), showed that Facebook was not just targeting
Coogee Media. It was a general campaign to block access to news for Australian users in ine with its campaign against
the Australian federal government plans to bring laws that would force Facebook to pay for news that appears in people's
feeds.
We learnt that Facebook blocked Australians receiving news from publishers' pages including news organistions
like the ABC, commercial news organisations, non-profits and academic resources. Fire authorities, Bureau of Meteology and health pages have also
been caught up in the ban. The Medical Journal of Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and pages
dealing with domestic violence have also been blocked. Even the satirical The Beetoota Advocate had been shown the door.
Example of Wikipedia : Banned in Turkey
Some years ago, I was travelling in Turkey, a country with countless archeological, historical and cultural sights.
Normally, Wikipedia is a invaluable resource for the curious traveller - it can provide instant access to facts
about even the most obscure items, sights or towns you come across. But in Turkey, there was absolutely no access to
Wikipedia, consequently we often passed by amazing points of interest without being able to understand what they were and their origins.
When we asked Turks about the lack of Wikipedia, not only did they not know why, many seemed to have no knowledge of what
the Wikipedia site.
Once we left Turkey, we were able to locate the reason: the Turkish government had blocked access to Wikipedia in their
country from 29 April 2017 to 15 January 2020 due to a dispute about Turkey-related content. The ban was eventually
overturned in court.
It does show, though, that a big important Internet/Web platform, which most people may feel is being essential, can be
taken away - and people can get used to its removal.
Coogee Media is a hobby activity and does not rely upon advertsing or other revenue. People have often asked us why we don't use a "free" platform like Facebook
to continue, rather paying to maintain our infrastructure, to run the group as a stand-alone web site. Well, we feel
vindicated. Whatever happens in the contest between the federal government and social media companies, we can continue to post.
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