Facebook blocks news from Australia as dispute escalates

Australians woke to empty news feeds in their Facebook Inc accounts on Thursday after the social media giant blocked all local media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a dispute with the government over paying for content.

The move was swiftly criticised by several local media outlets and lawmakers, many of whom pointed out that official health department pages and government meteorology pages had also been scrubbed - during the coronavirus pandemic and at the height of Australia’s summer bushfire season.