Communications Minister Is Concerned The North Shore Mums FB Page Has Also Been Blocked

Publishers all across Australia have been shocked by Facebook's decision to ban users from being able to see news.

The move was in response to the government's proposed law that would make the social media company pay individual publishers to host their content.

When Aussies woke up this morning, they would have noticed their feed would have been free of news.

It's not known how long the block will last, but it will prevent Aussies from seeing local, national or international news on Facebook and will stop people overseas from seeing content from Aussie publishers.

Despite Facebook saying they would be banning just news sites, several other important pages were unable to be accessed, including the Bureau of Meteorology, ACT, SA and QLD Health, as well as many fire and emergency service, domestic violence and safety services and charity pages.

And don't forget the North Shore Mums Facebook page based in Sydney.

Facebook

The federal Communications Minister has highlighted his serious concern about seeing pages that shouldn't have been included in the ban found to be unable to post content.

Paul Fletcher said: "I have spoken this morning to the operator of North Shore Mums, which is a well-known Facebook page in my own electorate.

"Like a number of similar services around Australia, her page, her Facebook page, has been blocked, and that is of significant concern."

Social media erupted in laughter that out of everyone who is struggling as a result of Facebook's block, a small community group servicing the mums of Sydney's ritzy North Shore got a shoutout from the federal minister in charge of communications.

Despite the massive backlash against Facebook, it seems like the government is holding strong

Minister Fletcher told 2GB Radio: "They're basically saying to Australians: 'If you're looking for reliable news, Facebook is not the place to look for it'.

"It's certainly something that raises concern...the government will consider this very carefully."

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg added that he's had a 'constructive' discussion with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in wake of the drastic changes.

"He raised a few remaining issues with the Government's news media bargaining code and we agreed to continue our conversation to try to find a pathway forward."

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie