Facebook's news blockade in Australia shows how tech giants are swallowing
the web
THE CONVERSATION
02/26/2021
By Jennifer Grygiel | -
When Facebook disabled Australians' access to news articles on its platform,
and blocked sharing of articles from Australian news organizations, the
company moved a step closer to killing the World Wide Web - the
hyperlink-based system of freely connecting online sites created in 1989 by
Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Though the social media giant has said it will return to the negotiating
table and restore news for now, the company has shown its hand - and how it
is continuing to reshape the web.
As a social media scholar, I see clearly that the internet in 2021 is not
the same open public sphere that Berners-Lee envisioned. Rather, it is a
constellation of powerful corporate platforms that have come to dominate how
people use the internet, what information they get and who is able to profit
from it.
Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners Lee, the man who in 1989 invented the hyperlink-interconnected
World Wide Web.
Paul Clarke via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Paying for news
The Australian government's legislative efforts aim to support the news
industry by helping to broker a deal whereby Facebook would pay Australian
news organizations for content posted on its platform by users. Right now,
Facebook isn't required to pay for news in any way, and the company objected
to this new potential cost of business.
Berners-Lee warned the Australian government the proposed law could
undermine free linking, which he called a "fundamental principle of the
web." Facebook's own statement of self-defense focused on Berners-Lee's
argument, saying Facebook provides value to news organizations by linking to
them. But their statements show that neither has acknowledged that Facebook
has, for many people, effectively become the web.
Back in the 1980s, Berners-Lee envisioned the web as a network of
community-minded academic researchers sharing their knowledge quickly and
conveniently across the world. The main mechanism for this was the hyperlink
- text that, when clicked on, led readers to something they were interested
in, or to supporting material on the actual source's website. This meant
information was freely exchanged, with attribution. The priority was helping
users find the material they wanted, wherever it was online.
Berners-Lee's design serves the reader, but not everyone was as
public-spirited: Companies like Facebook have been moving away from this
principle since the web's founding. These corporate platforms are designed
to capture and dominate users' attention - and turn it into money.
A Facebook news post
A Facebook post often includes key news content - not just a link.
The Conversation screenshot of the Guardian's Facebook page, CC BY-ND
Keeping users on the site
When a user posts a link on Facebook, it's not just a hyperlink as
Berners-Lee envisioned. It's much more advanced, displaying information from
the linked page, including, for news stories, a headline, a main image and
sometimes a summary of the news users might see if they clicked the link. In
this way, users can get a lot of the information without ever leaving
Facebook, hurting news organizations' revenues.
On Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, users' options are even more
restricted. People can post photos and text, but cannot directly share links
to other websites. The only active links in a post are internal, for tagging
others on Instagram and hashtags.
In my view, both cases show that Facebook doesn't really want an
interconnected web: It wants to keep its users on its own platforms.
Facebook displays valuable information, but if people don't click through,
or there is nothing to effectively click on, then those who actually created
the content will continue to have a hard time making money off their work.
Possible ways forward
The situation in Australia is a significant opportunity to examine how much
power Facebook has over the ways people can seek information online.
News media may decide to bid farewell to Facebook, which provides about
one-fifth of traffic to media sites in Australia, and not necessarily much
revenue in other parts of the world. They might seek other options for
digital distribution of their content. But in the near term they may need
financial help from somewhere if they have become too dependent on Facebook.
Or news organizations could negotiate with Facebook directly in deals and
avoid restrictive laws, as the proposed legislation is not even final yet.
News publishers could also ask regulators to help them gain more control
over how news content is presented on platforms to increase link referral
traffic, which is key to generating revenue. A return to simpler hyperlinks
- and adding them to Instagram - could help more users click through on news
stories while preserving the principles of the web. Just because advanced
technology exists doesn't mean it's helpful in all situations or good. But
then again, a basic old-timey solution may not work for those trapped in the
"attention economy.
Editor's note: The Conversation U.S. is an independent media nonprofit, one
of eight news organizations around the world that share a common mission,
brand and publishing platform. The Conversation Australia has publicly
lobbied in support of the Australian government's proposal.
