"This is not our first choice — it is our last," Will Easton, managing director of Facebook Australia and New Zealand, wrote in a blog post Monday. The move marks another dramatic escalation of tension in Australia over the proposed law, which was announced in July. "We had also hoped to bring Facebook News to Australia, a feature on our platform exclusively for news, where we pay publishers for their content." Regulators, on the other hand, say the move is needed to level the playing field for the news media in Australia. If Facebook goes ahead with its decision to restrict news on its platforms, it will not affect the company's other offerings for users in Australia, he added.

Source: CNN September 01, 2020 05:15 UTC