Facebook's Australia news blackout: a shock four years in the making

FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Facebook logo is seen in front of displayed Australia's flag in this illustration photo taken February 18, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was as shocked as anyone when he learned that Facebook Inc had blocked news content from its website in his country at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday.

He had been in direct contact with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and, he thought, was making progress toward an accommodation over proposed rules that would force the tech titan to pay publishers to link to their news.