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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Technology
Josh Taylor

Deliberate ploy: whistleblowers reveal why Facebook’s Australia news ban included non-news sites

Facebook Meta
Soon after the Australia ban was in place, a Facebook employee wrote to colleagues that it ‘took down pages that are not news sources.’ Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

Three hours into Facebook’s Australian news blackout on 17 February 2021, a concerned employee sent a note to colleagues at the social media company.

“Australian news ban took down pages that are not news sources,” the note said, pointing to blocked government pages, fire and emergency services, official health pages and domestic violence charities.

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