Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Facebook said Facebook’s willingness to block reliable news sources is also in line with the company’s “poor record in tackling the spread of hate content and misinformation on the platform.”
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that it is “extremely worrying that a private company is prepared to control access to information that people depend on,” adding that its “dominant force over our information ecosystem threatens human rights.”
The organization also added that this step will disproportionately affect Pacific communities, as “many depend on obtaining information and news from Facebook due to the nature of their agreements with telecom service providers.”
An Amnesty International spokesman said it was “worrying that the content of community support groups, emergency services and charities has been blocked”.
On Wednesday, Facebook announced that users of the platform in Australia will not be able to share and display news from local and international outlets, in response to proposed legislation in Australia that would force technology platforms to pay news publishers for content.
