Fb may have overshot. They've not only blocked news pages but gov pages as well. Most people I know in aus have been getting covid updates purely through government body social media posts. These are now blocked.
core news content means content that reports, investigates or explains:
a) issues or events that are relevant in engaging Australians in public debate and in informing democratic decision-making; or
b) current issues or events of public significance for Australians at a local, regional or national level
This just proves how misguidedly sweeping the legislation is.
52A: https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/bi...
Couldn't this be a viewed as a criminal act by the Australian government? Could they arrest FB employees in Australia for FB HQ blocking their pages, especially with the vital COVID-19 information?
What criminal act do you think applies here?
Those services are perfectly free to have their own websites that are not paid for or promoted by Facebook.