Facebook banning government departments and advertisers in Australia because the algos think they are news orgs. [Apparently]
https://which-50.com/facebooks-belligerence-on-news-is-rapidly-turning-from-farce-to-disaster-for-the-social-network/
Facebook’s Belligerence On News Rapidly Turns From Farce To Disaster As Advertisers Are Banned
Facebook’s attempt to strong-arm local publishers and pressure the government on its media content regulation has backfired badly.
That is because it has taken a sledgehammer to the problem when a scalpel was required. It quickly became apparent that the ban was hitting home far beyond media sites. Initially, government departments including health and bushfire information sites were affected, as was the ACTU.
So poorly was the ban targeted that Facebook’s own site was caught up in the imbroglio.
On Twitter, the ABC’s Kevin Nguyen shared details of non-news sites that were affected including @1800RESPECT (an organisation for victims of domestic violence), the ACTU, Women’s Legal Services in Tasmania, Queensland Health, and WA’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services. The list continues to grow, to include state governments, community services groups, not for profits, and sporting associations.
And now its advertisers are also getting skewered.
Booktopia CMO Steffen Daleng posted on Linkedin this afternoon that his company’s site had been stripped of its content “out of nowhere”.