Washington, D.C. – The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement in response to news that Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content.

“By censoring Australian publishers to maintain its advertising revenue, Facebook has shown it is a threat to democracies worldwide. Australia was first to suffer from the explicit wrath of this monopolist, but any other country could be next,” said Matt Stoller, Research Director at the American Economic Liberties Project. “We applaud the courage of Australian regulators in standing up to Google and Facebook. In light of Facebook choosing to destroy the distribution of news in Australia, it is now time for policymakers elsewhere to recognize the emergency of big tech authoritarianism, and to act in concert with the scale of the threat. Big tech must be broken up and regulated, as quickly as possible.”

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Economic Liberties works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.