Thread by @StevenJayCohen

f you have ever posted/liked/shared a post about getting fair pay for your work, not working for "Exposure", etc., please read:
The Australian Government has a proposed law saying that social media companies (like @Facebook )

need to pay for news content that they will make money off of (through showing ads).

So, essentially the Aussie Gov't is saying the same thing as we have been -- people/businesses SHOULD BE PAID for the work that they do, fullstop.

In response to this proposed law change that is NOT in effect yet, @Facebook shut off all news access to an ENTIRE CONTINENT.

Think about that. It's not a law yet, it's still a bill being discussed.

And, @Facebook decides to threaten everyone on an entire continent by turning off access to all news.

I had shut down my account for a while and only turned it back on recently because pandemic-related loneliness was addressed most easily by turning the account back on.

This action by @Facebook is making me reconsider that.

@Facebook just threatened an entire continent, fullstop.

I love and miss connecting with many of the people that I connect with on @Facebook. FB is indeed the simplest way to stay connected to those people. But, ignoring this feels completely wrong.

@Facebook is weaponizing access to its newsfeed and using it to threaten a sovereign state, fullstop.

I'm keeping that account open for now in order to have this conversation. I have no faith in @Facebook, so it is completely possible that they will affect people's ability to see or interact with my post.

I would appreciate anyone reading this post to #retweet & share it on their own @Facebook timelines as well. I think we can all safely assume that FB is not likely to promote this post.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Link to relevant @Facebook post: facebook.com/stevenjaycohen…