London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 04, 2025

Facebook in Australia: What happened after news was blocked?

Facebook in Australia: What happened after news was blocked?

Critics of Facebook say the company's ban on news appearing on its platform in Australia has made it more difficult for people to access reliable sources - and increased the influence of bad and misleading information.

But is there any evidence of this since the ban was imposed on Thursday?

Unintended consequences


It quickly became clear that one effect of the tech giant's move was that in addition to news providers, emergency services were also being blocked.

Some Australian government health-department and emergency-services pages found that their Facebook accounts had been affected.

They were later restored after Facebook was notified.


Welfare groups such as Women's Health Tasmania also faced difficulties.


"We stream physical activity classes through Facebook," says Jo Flanagan, the group's chief executive. "We push public-health-generated Covid updates.

"Clients use messages on Facebook to contact us when they don't have phone credit. It was very disruptive."

The page is now working again.

Will Easton, managing director of Facebook Australia, said: "Pages such as government, public-safety and education pages should not be impacted by this announcement.

"We apologise to any pages that were inadvertently impacted."

The day after the ban, we checked some of the pages that had faced problems, including a satirical-news site, a women's legal-services page, and a weather-forecasting platform. They had all been reactivated.

Facebook says it's working to restore other sites that have also been blocked inadvertently.

Has bad information increased?


We can't give a definitive answer to this for all Facebook users in Australia.

But we've done some digging with data-analysis tool CrowdTangle, itself part of the Facebook family of online products.

Using CrowdTangle, it's possible to look at the most popular Facebook posts related to a particular topic over a given time in a given country - it therefore gives you a pretty good idea what's been shared on that subject.

In one example, we looked at Facebook posts from pages in Australia related to Covid-19 and vaccines over two 24-hour periods - before and after the ban was imposed.

We found:

*  In four separate searches before the ban, the overwhelming majority of the top 20 performing posts and links came from verified pages of well-known media organisations, government and public-health bodies - only one or two posts with potentially misleading content.

*  After the ban, the same searches revealed up to five posts containing misleading content about Covid-19 or vaccines

*  After the ban, a search for posts with links to external websites led us to content from alternative- or holistic-medicine pages, some expressing anti-vaccine views. These pages weren't classified as "news", and following the ban they could still be accessed via Facebook.

Links to some websites promoting inaccurate claims about the pandemic still work in Australia ("False" label added to image for clarification)

Facebook has responded to its critics by saying its commitment to combating misinformation has not changed.

"We are directing people to authoritative health information and notify them of new updates via our Covid-19 Information Centre," it says.

"We're also continuing our third-party fact-checking partnerships with AAP (Australian Associated Press) and AFP (Agence France-Press), who review content and debunk false claims online."

However, Peter Bodkin, editor of the AAP fact-checking team, says his news organisation's content is being restricted. The AAP can still rate and label posts on Facebook and tack on links to reliable AAP stories, but users cannot share the site's articles themselves.

"It seems like a terrible outcome, to state the obvious," he says.


Fact-checking sites are, of course, accessible without any need to go through Facebook.

However, Russell Skelton, of ABC's (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) fact-checking project with RMIT University, points out that the ban affects precisely the audience that fact-checkers want to reach.

"Some 11 million-plus Australians use Facebook as their primary source of news," he says.

"Facebook's action has certainly prevented us from engaging with a more diverse audience who do not come to the ABC news website for their information."


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
UK's Online Safety Law: A Front for Censorship
Nationwide Protests Erupt in Brazil Demanding Presidential Resignation
Parents Abandon Child at Barcelona Airport Over Passport Issue
Mystery Surrounds Death of Brazilian Woman with iPhones Glued to Her Body
Bus Driver Discovers Toddler Hidden in Suitcase in New Zealand
Switzerland Celebrates 734 Years of Independence Amid Global Changes
U.S. Opens Official Investigation into Former Trump Prosecutor Jack Smith
Leaked audio of Canada's new PM Mark Carney admitting the truth about the Net Zero agenda: "We're gonna make a lot of money off of this."
China Enforces Comprehensive Ban on Cryptocurrency Activities
Absolutely 100% Realistic EVO Series Doll by EXDOLL (Chinese Company) used mainly for carnal purposes
World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab: "In this new world, we must accept... total transparency. You have to get used to it. You have to behave accordingly. But if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't be afraid."
Meet Mufti Hamid Patel, head of Office for Standards in Education in Pakistan
George Soros tells the World Economic Forum: "President Trump is a con man and the ultimate narcissist, who wants the world to revolve around him."
Hamas are STARVING the hostages.
Decline in Tourism in Majorca Amidst Ongoing Anti-Tourism Protests
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
Poland Begins Excavation at Dziemiany After New Clue to World War II‑Era Nazi Treasure
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Threatens Canada with Tariffs Over Palestinian State Recognition
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Trump Sues Murdoch in “Heavyweight Bout”: Lawsuit Over Alleged Epstein Letter Sets Stage for Courtroom Showdown
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
Trump Administration Finalizes Broad Tariff Increases on Global Trade Partners
J.K. Rowling Limits Public Engagements Citing Safety Fears
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
×