GOVERNMENTS around the world are watching Australia, which became the first country to legislate to make Google and Facebook pay for news content last week.

The process has not been a smooth one – with Facebook dramatically “unfriending Australia” on February 18, shutting down Australian media pages and many more besides. The sweeping cull also cut access to some government and public information websites, as well as those of trade unions.

Facebook relented a few days later, but the message – that the firm is large and powerful enough to wreak havoc with the public’s access to information if it finds government policy objectionable – could hardly be clearer, especially since Facebook’s supposed climbdown came after it had secured further concessions in direct negotiations between Mark Zuckerberg and Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.