Scott Morrison has hit back at Facebook after it decided to ban all news content for users in Australia.
The Prime Minister's government has proposed a piece of legislation that would force the social media company and Google to pay publishers to host their content.
Facebook warned it would not follow the rule and would instead stop Aussie users from being able to see news, whether that's local, state, federal or international news.
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Yesterday, the company followed through with that threat and everyone's news feed was wiped of actual news.
It prompted severe outrage from people across the country, including the Prime Minister.
Despite the outrage, Scott Morrison said he would not back down.
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"Facebook's actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing," the PM said in a statement ironically posted on Facebook.
"I am in regular contact with the leaders of other nations on these issues.
"These actions will only confirm the concerns that an increasing number of countries are expressing about the behaviour of BigTech companies who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them.
"They may be changing the world, but that doesn't mean they run it.
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"We will not be intimidated by BigTech seeking to pressure our Parliament as it votes on our important News Media Bargaining Code.
"Just as we weren't intimidated when Amazon threatened to leave the country and when Australia drew other nations together to combat the publishing of terrorist content on social media platforms.
"I encourage Facebook to constructively work with the Australian Government, as Google recently demonstrated in good faith."
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While there were plenty of media companies who weren't happy about being blocked on the site, there were way more critical and crucial organisations that fell under the ban.
Places like the Bureau of Meteorology, Suicide Prevention Australia, 1800Respect, Break the Silence Against Domestic Violence, state health and fire departments were also blocked from being seen - which sparked concern amid bushfires in Western Australia and a pandemic.
Facebook's own Facebook page was ironically blocked as well.
Thankfully, some of the important pages relating to health, fire and support have had their pages reinstated, however it's unknown how long the ban will last for the rest of the media landscape.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Australia