Facebook Blocks News Content in Australia Impacting Adventist Media
19 February 2021 | Content from a number of Adventist publications in Australia can no longer be shared on Facebook.
Adventist Record, Signs of the Times, and Mums at the Table content has now been blocked by the social media giant.
A news report from Adventist Record explains the block comes as a response from Facebook to the Australian government’s new Media Bargaining Bill, which demands big tech companies pay media companies for news content.
“Waking up to find Facebook had banned all of our content was a shock,” Jarrod Stackelroth, editor of Adventist Record and Signs of the Times, said in the Adventist Record report. “We have no way to know how long this might last or what ongoing impact it will have on our ability to share Adventist news around the South Pacific Division.”
The Adventist Record report said posts by the affected Adventist platforms no longer appear on Facebook and their content can’t be shared. Not even Facebook users outside Australia can access the content produced by Australia’s Adventist Media.
“We are blessed to have print magazines and websites that are still under our control, and we’ll still be producing content in those places,” Stackelroth said.
The Adventist Record weekly email newsletter is also still available.
“This week’s events have got me thinking about how as Christians, we use the platforms available to us,” Stackelroth said. “This Facebook ban has been building for a while, and Google may follow suit. We must be effective disciples in every area we can, sharing the good news of Jesus. There may come a day when private organizations like Facebook and Google, and even governments, ban Christian content or Christian individuals from public platforms because of the things we believe.”
