Facebook 'unfriends' Australia: uproar as news pages go dark

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen in front of a stock chart in this illustration taken November 3, 2016. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Facebook faced backlash from publishers and politicians on Thursday after blocking news feeds in Australia in a surprise escalation of a dispute with the government over a law to require it to share revenue from news.

Facebook wiped out pages from Australian state governments and charities as well as from domestic and international news organisations, three days before the launch of a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme.