SYDNEY (Reuters) – The following are reactions from academics, politicians and NGOs after Facebook Inc blocked all Australian media content including official information on coronavirus, wildfires and other important services, in an escalating dispute over paying for content.

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DAVID CICILLINE, U.S. DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN AND CHAIR OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ANTITRUST SUBCOMMITTEE, on Twitter:

“If it is not already clear, Facebook is not compatible with democracy.

“Threatening to bring an entire country to its knees to agree to Facebook’s terms is the ultimate admission of monopoly power.”

MATT STOLLER OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC LIBERTIES PROJECT, on Twitter:

“Facebook deleted huge amounts of important content on a critical piece of social infrastructure in order to threaten a democratic society’s sovereign power.

“The details are complex, the underlying power play is simple.”