Facebook walks as Google caves in Australia

SOME READERS will have come to this article through app; others will have heard about it in a newsletter or podcast. The largest number, however, are likely to have arrived here via a link on Facebook. Except, that is, in Australia, where on February 18th the world’s largest social network blocked the sharing of all news articles, Australian or otherwise, as well as banning the sharing worldwide of any articles that originated in Australia.The news blackout was Facebook’s last resort in a long-running battle over who should pay for news online. Rather than pay media companies in return for linking to their stories, as a forthcoming Australian law would require, the company opted to block all such links on its platform. The decision came hours after Google, the other big tech firm targeted by the new law, made the opposite decision, signing a deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to carry on linking to stories from that publisher.