Toyota’s Surprise CEO Change Signals Strategic Shift Amid Global Auto Turmoil 
SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off 
TrumpRx Website Launches to Offer Discounted Prescription Drugs for Cash-Paying Americans 
Alphabet’s Massive AI Spending Surge Signals Confidence in Google’s Growth Engine 
Nvidia Nears $20 Billion OpenAI Investment as AI Funding Race Intensifies 
Nintendo Shares Slide After Earnings Miss Raises Switch 2 Margin Concerns 
Anthropic Eyes $350 Billion Valuation as AI Funding and Share Sale Accelerate 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge 
Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users 
Australian Scandium Project Backed by Richard Friedland Poised to Support U.S. Critical Minerals Stockpile 
AMD Shares Slide Despite Earnings Beat as Cautious Revenue Outlook Weighs on Stock 
Nasdaq Proposes Fast-Track Rule to Accelerate Index Inclusion for Major New Listings 
Tencent Shares Slide After WeChat Restricts YuanBao AI Promotional Links 
FDA Targets Hims & Hers Over $49 Weight-Loss Pill, Raising Legal and Safety Concerns 
Once Upon a Farm Raises Nearly $198 Million in IPO, Valued at Over $724 Million 
Nvidia, ByteDance, and the U.S.-China AI Chip Standoff Over H200 Exports 
CK Hutchison Launches Arbitration After Panama Court Revokes Canal Port Licences 
Facebook announced that it would be blocking Australian news content from its platform. This decision comes after Australia expressed its determination to pass a new media law that will oblige the company to pay for news that appears on its site.
Facebook reveals restrictions and blasts the proposed law
Australia will now be barred from posting news links on Facebook. Its citizens will also not be able to share or view Australian and international news content on the platform. Globally, sharing or posting of news links from Australian publications is prohibited as well.
Mark Zuckerberg’s company revealed its decision through a blog post that was posted on Feb. 17. In its statement, Facebook also slammed Australia for proposing such an unfair law.
“The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,” William Easton, Facebook Australia & New Zealand Managing Director, said in a statement. “It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia and with a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter.”
Easton added that they were ready to launch Facebook News in Australia and boost their investments with the Australian publishers, but they can only carry this out “with the right rules in place.”
As this was how things have turned out, Facebook will now just as prioritize investments in other countries. The managing director said that this step is part of their plans to invest in new licensing news programs and experiences.
The new Australian media law
Australian officials have presented a proposal that aims to make Google and Facebook pay for news. The proposed policy is called the News Media Bargaining Code, and it is now being tackled in Congress and will likely be passed.
If approved and finally turned into a new bill, it is feared that other countries will also follow suit and ask tech companies to compensate publishers. This will definitely change the relationship between traditional media and tech companies worldwide.
