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Here’s why ‘delete Facebook’ is trending

<p>Facebook is facing a backlash</p>

Facebook is facing a backlash

Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

#DeleteFacebook is one of the top trending topics on Twitter today, and it’s all because Australian users will no longer be able to share news stories on the site.

A landmark bill put forward by Josh Frydenberg, the Treasurer of Australia – which is said to have enough votes to get through the senate – sets a code of conduct for Facebook and Google, forcing them to pay Australian media companies for their content.

Facebook has chosen not to pay, prompting a major backlash. Lot of people are saying they’ll no longer use the social media platform.

“The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,” writes William Easton, the managing director of Facebook Australia & New Zealand, in a blog post.

“It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter.”

For Australian users, this means that they cannot view or share any news content. For other users from around the world, this change will stop them from sharing Australian news content onto their Facebook.

People aren’t happy with this move.

The social media giant, which also owns Instagram and WhatAapp, has also banned some charities and organisations from posting onto the site, including the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

Furious at the limitations posed by Facebook’s reaction to these new regulations, people are leaving the site in swathes.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote – on his own Facebook page – that Facebook were “unfriending” Australia and “cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services”, describing these actions as “arrogant” and “disappointing”.

Western Australia State Premier Mark McGowan told reporters that “ behaving more like North Korea than an American company. I would urge the American Government to assist us here in resolving this matter.”

Read more: Trump’s Facebook ban is four years too late

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