روما بت
ماه بت
پین باهیس
بهترین سایت شرط بندی
بت کارت
یاس بت
یک بت
مگاپاری
اونجا بت
alvinbet.org
بت برو
بت فا
بت فوروارد
وان ایکس بت
1win giriş
بت وینر
بهترین سایت شرط بندی ایرانی
1xbet giriş
وان کیک بت
وین بت
ریتزو بت
1xbet-ir.com.co/
https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/paperiounblocked2?lang=EN https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/agariounblockedschool1?lang=EN https://yohoho-io.app/ https://2.yohoho-io.net/paper.io unblocked https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/yohoho-unblocked-76?lang=EN https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/agariounblockedpvp https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/yohoho?lang=EN
HomeNewsFacebook: Genocide is Cool but Don’t Threaten our Profits

Facebook: Genocide is Cool but Don’t Threaten our Profits

Published on

Australia’s 18 million Facebook users woke up yesterday to find that, without warning, local and global news sites were unavailable, meaning that they could not view or share news at all. Facebook users across the world were also unable to read or access any Australian news publications. The tech giant had taken the step of essentially shutting down its site and “unfriending” an entire nation in response to the government’s proposals to tax them.

Lawmakers in Canberra had drawn up plans to “level the playing field” between social media giants and the traditional press. In practice, this would mean Facebook and Google handing over a sizable chunk of their advertising profits to the government to subsidize struggling news outlets, on whom they depend for content.

In choosing the nuclear option, Facebook appears to have hoped to trigger a public outcry that would force the government into a U-turn. However, it seems to have miscalculated, as the action drew widespread condemnation, even from human rights groups. Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch’s Australia Director condemned the company for “severely restricting the flow of information to Australians,” not just for news, but also information on government health and emergency services. “This is an alarming and dangerous turn of events,” she concluded.

“It is extremely concerning that a private company is willing to control access to information that people rely on. Facebook’s action starkly demonstrates why allowing one company to exert such dominant power over our information ecosystem threatens human rights,” said Tim O’Connor of Amnesty International Australia. “Facebook’s willingness to block credible news sources also stands in sharp distinction to the company’s poor track record in addressing the spread of hateful content and disinformation on the platform,” he added.

 

Myanmar: digital accessory to a genocide

One particularly shocking example of Facebook’s complicity in spreading hate is in Myanmar, where thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been killed and more than 700,000 have fled to neighboring countries.

A United Nations human rights investigation found that the platform, which is virtually ubiquitous in Myanmar, had been used to spread fake news about Muslim atrocities in order to spark a genocide. “I’m afraid that Facebook has now turned into a beast, and not what it originally intended,” said UN investigator Yanghee Lee.

Facebook admitted that played a role in the violence. However, it resisted calls for it to suspend its service inside the country. “Facebook does a good deal of good — connecting people with friends and family, helping small businesses, surfacing informative content. If we turn it off we lose all of that,” said a company executive.

In 2018, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said that he felt “fundamentally uncomfortable sitting here in California at an office, making content policy decisions for people around the world.” This discomfort apparently disappeared when the company’s bottom line was threatened with regulation.

 

A media behemoth

Facebook can certainly afford to pay a levy to help journalism. The Silicon Valley giant recently announced it had taken in over $84 billion in advertising revenue in 2020 (a 21% increase from 2019) and posted a spectacular total post-tax profit of $29 billion. 71% of Australians use the company’s services, making it by far the most widely used social media platform in the country, ahead of YouTube, Instagram, and WhatsApp respectively.

Unlike traditional media, Facebook and Google do not produce any reporting of their own, nor do they employ any journalists. Together, the two companies bear significant responsibility for the decline of journalism across the developed world, as advertisers have ditched the traditional press in favor of targeted advertising offered online. Together, the two companies account for over three-quarters of all online advertising revenue in Australia. Facebook’s marketplace has also largely made small advertising — a key source of income for print media — obsolete. From a high of over $49 billion in 2006, advertising revenue for U.S. newspapers has decreased by over two-thirds, with a corresponding drop in the number of journalists employed. It is clear that, if old media is to be saved, something must be done. Whether this is the solution is up for debate.

Behind closed doors, Google has already signed a number of deals with Australian outlets, promising to cut them in on their advertising revenue. Facebook, however, has chosen to up the ante, participating in a direct standoff against the Australian government. Other nations, such as Canada, are already promising to give the social media giants the Australia treatment, meaning that the outcome of the conflict will likely have global repercussions for the future of the press and of social media.

Perhaps this explains why Facebook was comparatively uninterested in shutting itself down to stop a genocide in Myanmar but chose the nuclear option when it came to government regulation of its business model.

Feature photo | Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about “News Tab” at the Paley Center, in New York, Oct. 25, 2019. Mark Lennihan | AP

Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.orgThe GuardianSalonThe GrayzoneJacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams.

The post Facebook: Genocide is Cool but Don’t Threaten our Profits appeared first on MintPress News.

Latest articles

What was Marine Le Pen found “guilty” of?, by Thierry Meyssan

A guest on TF1’s 8 p.m. news, Marine Le Pen once again pleaded not to have committed a crime, but the journalist didn’t understand what she was talking about. Marine Le Pen was sentenced on March 31, 2025, for "embezzlement of public funds" to four years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended, a €100,000 fine,…

Global strike against genocide

Home » Global » Global strike against genocide The following statement — “A call to declare general mobilization, alert and participation in the day of rage and civil disobedience against the genocide and zionist crimes committed against our people in the Gaza Strip” — by the Popular Resistance Committees was published by Resistance News Network…

Millions across the U.S. say ‘Hands off!’

Nearly everyone in the U.S. has been negatively affected by the Trump/Musk team’s cuts to federal jobs, veterans’ care, schools, libraries, science programs, Medicaid, the Women, Infants and Children program, heating aid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and more. There are looming threats to Social Security and disability benefits. The capitalist class is trying to…

Leaked Files Reveal the Steele Dossier Was Discredited in 2017 — But Sold to the Public Anyway

On March 25, Donald Trump signed an executive order declassifying all documentation related to Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s 2016 investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The order has unexpectedly resurrected buried documents that cast new light on the Steele dossier — and when it was known to be false. It…

More like this

What was Marine Le Pen found “guilty” of?, by Thierry Meyssan

A guest on TF1’s 8 p.m. news, Marine Le Pen once again pleaded not to have committed a crime, but the journalist didn’t understand what she was talking about. Marine Le Pen was sentenced on March 31, 2025, for "embezzlement of public funds" to four years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended, a €100,000 fine,…

Global strike against genocide

Home » Global » Global strike against genocide The following statement — “A call to declare general mobilization, alert and participation in the day of rage and civil disobedience against the genocide and zionist crimes committed against our people in the Gaza Strip” — by the Popular Resistance Committees was published by Resistance News Network…

Millions across the U.S. say ‘Hands off!’

Nearly everyone in the U.S. has been negatively affected by the Trump/Musk team’s cuts to federal jobs, veterans’ care, schools, libraries, science programs, Medicaid, the Women, Infants and Children program, heating aid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and more. There are looming threats to Social Security and disability benefits. The capitalist class is trying to…