Australian PM Scott Morrison urges Facebook to lift its news blockade
Canberra, Feb 19: Australia's prime minister on Friday urged Facebook to lift its blockade of Australian users and return to the negotiating table with news publishing businesses, warning that other countries would follow his government's example in making digital giants pay for journalism.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison described Facebook's move Thursday to prevent Australians accessing and sharing news as a threat.
The blockade has escalated a fight with the government over whether powerful tech companies should have to pay news organizations for content.
The idea of shutting down the sorts of sites they did yesterday, as some sort of threat well, I know how Australians react to that and I thought that was not a good move on their part, Morrison told reporters.
They should move quickly past that, come back to the table and we'll sort it out, he added.
There was public outrage at how the Facebook blockade was bungled, cutting access at least temporarily to pandemic, public health and emergency services.
Newspaper headlines included: No likes for unsocial network, and Faceblock.
An article about how fake news would replace credible journalism in Australian feeds carried the headline: 'Fakebook' shows all it cares about is profit, not people.
Some non-Australian outlets also appeared affected, with posts disappearing from Facebook pages belonging to Britain's Daily Telegraph and Sky News. Both share names with news outlets in Australia.
The blockade was a response to the House of Representatives on Wednesday night passing a bill that would make Facebook and Google pay Australian media companies fair compensation for the journalism that the platforms link to. The legislation must be passed by the Senate to become law.
Google has responded by quickly working out licensing content deals with major Australian media companies under its own News Showcase model.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has announced a wide-ranging deal with Google covering operations in the United States and Britain as well as Australia. Major Australian media organization Seven West Media also reached a deal earlier in the week. Rival Nine Entertainment is reportedly close to its own pact, and state-owned Australian Broadcasting Corp. is in negotiations.
Morrison said he discussed the Facebook dispute with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. Morrison was also discussing Australia's proposed law with the leaders of Britain, Canada and France.
There is a lot of world interest in what Australia is doing, Morrison said. That's why I invite, as we did with Google, Facebook to constructively engage because they know that what Australia will do here is likely to be followed by many other Western jurisdictions.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the minister responsible for the proposed News Media Bargaining Code, had a telephone conversation with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg after the blockade began on Thursday and again on Friday.
We talked through their remaining issues & agreed our respective teams would work through them immediately. We'll talk again over the weekend, Frydenberg tweeted on Friday.
I reiterated Australia remains committed to implementing the code, Frydenberg added.
Frydenberg maintains that Facebook had been having constructive negotiations with Australian media on pay deals immediately before the surprise blockade.
Facebook said on Thursday the proposed Australian law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it.
Morrison said his government was happy to listen to them on the technical issues, but remained determined to pass the law.
It's not OK to unfriend Australia because Australia is very friendly, Morrison said. We'd like to remain very friendly and it's time for them to friend us again.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
