I remember well the morning Meta briefly switched off news content in Australia in 2021 while negotiating with the Morrison government, a scare tactic that spectacularly backfired. I was an administrator of The Conversation’s Facebook page at the time, and I initially panicked as our articles kept failing to post. In blocking them — some of which were from epidemiologists providing vital health information — and other quality sources on a platform already swamped by mis- and disinformation during a deadly pandemic, Meta quickly came off as a ghoulish villain. This emboldened the government to double down on its code and forced Meta to a strategic settlement for public relations’ sake.
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